Region 9 boys basketball recap: Dixie stays undefeated as 3 others now tied for 2nd place

Written by Ryne Williams
January 31, 2020

ST. GEORGE — In Region 9 boys basketball action this week, the Dixie Flyers won twice to remain undefeated while the Cedar Reds lost both of their games to fall into a three-way tie for second place, along with Desert Hills and Pine View. Check out the video recap in the player above.

Tuesday’s games

Dixie 69, Cedar 60

In Cedar City, in a showdown between the top two teams in the standings, Dixie prevailed 69-60. Read the full story about the game here.

Desert Hills 59, Hurricane 52

Hurricane at Desert Hills, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2020 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News / Cedar City News

Desert Hills beat Hurricane at home Tuesday, winning 59-52. The Thunder were up by nine at halftime and they were able to hold on in the second half on the road to seal the victory.

Mason Chase led all scorers with 22 points for the Thunder while Dax Dayley and Bryce Thomas had 18 points for the Tigers.

Pine View 68, Crimson Cliffs 48

At Crimson Cliffs the Panthers beat the Mustangs 68-48, Read the full story about the game here.

Canyon View 68, Snow Canyon 58

At Canyon View, the Falcons picked up their first region victory of the season, winning at home over Snow Canyon, 68-58. The Warriors got off to a strong start, leading 15-11 at the end of the first quarter. However, Canyon View outscored Snow Canyon 19-7 during the second period to take a 30-22 halftime lead.

Snow Canyon at Canyon View, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 28, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The Falcons stayed in control the rest of the way, eventually winning by 10.

“Whew! We executed our game plan well, and the kids showed a lot of basketball savvy in taking advantage of what they gave us,” Canyon View head coach Rob Potter said. “We played really great defense for most of the night. Cody Spencer at 6 feet took some turns guarding the 6-7 kid, and our guards got tips and deflections that led to easy baskets.”

The Falcons were 25 of 31 in free throw attempts during the game, with Hayden Zobell converting 9 of 10 from the line. Jaxon Jorgenson led Canyon View with 19 points, with Spencer adding 17 and Trevor Farrow scoring 15.

Potter said he was pleased with his team’s “well-balanced” effort.

“I’m proud of these kids. When they could have quit and called it a season, they show up every day,” he said. “We still have a lot of basketball in us.”

Snow Canyon was led by Lyman Simmons, who scored 28 points and had 12 rebounds. Cole Warner added 13 points and seven boards for the Warriors.

— written by Jeff Richards

Thursday’s games 

Desert Hills 79, Cedar 75

At Cedar High, the Reds battled the Desert Hills Thunder in a game that was close until the Thunder pulled away in the final few minutes. Cedar led by two points at halftime, 33-31, after which both teams went on a scoring binge in the third quarter, with Desert Hills pouring in 25 points in an eight-minute span, then adding 23 more in the fourth quarter. Cedar almost managed to keep pace with the Thunder, with Cedar guard Gaige Savage scoring 13 of his team-high 22 points during the fourth period.

Desert Hills at Cedar, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 30, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Ultimately, however, the Thunder came out on top, 79-75, with each team scoring 23 points in the final quarter, including nine each in the final minute of play. Mason Chase scored 22 points to lead five Desert Hills players in double figures. Also for the Thunder, Reggie Newby scored 17, Keegan Munson added 14, Quinn Marchant added 12 and Peyton Holmes scored 10.

“We can’t give up 25 in a quarter and expect to win many ballgames,” Cedar head coach Mark Esplin told Cedar City News afterward. “We talked about it. We wanted to build ourselves on defense and I think we’ve taken a step back defensively.”

“We scored enough points to win,” Espin added. “We didn’t play defense well enough as a team. They’re very good athletes. Mason Chase is a very good athlete. You know, I’m not sure we have anybody that can stay with him individually, but if we do the things we have been trying to teach, we can play great team defense. And that’s what we’ve got to get back to, who we are. What’d we score? 75 points … we should be able to win a ballgame, you would think. That’s a lot of points. But in our two games against them, they scored 83 and 79 … they’re going to win.”

Joining Savage in double figures for Cedar was Zab Santana, who scored 18, Luke Armstrong, who scored 13, and Treyton Tebbs, who made 11. Cedar made just nine of 15 free throws as a team, while Desert Hills converted 23 of 30 from the line.

With their second loss of the week, the Reds have now dropped into a three-way tie for second place in the Region 9 standings, with Cedar joining Desert Hills and Pine View with 6-4 records, each of them four games behind undefeated region leader Dixie.

— written by Jeff Richards

Hurricane 58, Canyon View 56 (OT)

At Canyon View, the Hurricane Tigers outlasted the Falcons in overtime, following a close battle. Midway through the second quarter, the Falcons led 18-17 lead, but Hurricane scored the last 10 points of the quarter to take a 27-18 halftime lead. During the second half, the Falcons steadily fought their way back, eventually taking a 50-47 lead with 20 seconds to go, thanks to a 3-pointer by Trevor Farrow. However, the Falcons ended up fouling Bryce Thomas as he was attempting a trey in the final seconds. Thomas made all three of the ensuing free throws to force overtime. Hurricane scored first during the five-minute overtime period and held on to win by two points, 58-56. Daxton Dayley led Hurricane with 17 points, while Jaxon Jorgenson scored 19 to lead the Falcons. Hurricane improved to 4-6 in region play with the win, while the Falcons dropped to 1-9.

— written by Jeff Richards

Crimson Cliffs at Dixie, St. George, Utah, Jan. 30, 2020 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News / Cedar City News

Dixie 74, Crimson Cliffs 53

Dixie continued on their unbeaten region season with a blowout win over Crimson Cliffs on Thursday, 74-53. Isaac Finlinson dropped 23 points on the night with Jordan Matthews contributing 16 points. For Crimson Cliffs, Trei Rockhill had 11 points and Danny Wade had 10 points.

Pine View 71, Snow Canyon 56

The first time these two teams met, Snow Canyon got the better of the Panthers at home. This time the Warriors traveled to Pine View and the game ended up much differently.

The game was tied after the first quarter but Pine View went on a late run in the first half to get an 8-point lead at halftime. The Warriors got the lead down to five a couple of times in the third quarter but they were not able to get over the hump and Pine View continued on to get the 15 point win after some late fouls.

Michael Moore had a game-high 20 points while Jared Koller had 17 points. Walker Morrison led the Warriors with 17 points while Cole Warner had 11 points.

Region 9 standings (as of Jan. 31)

  1. Dixie 10-0 (16-2)
  2. Cedar 6-4 (12-6)
  3. Pine View 6-4 (10-7)
  4. Desert Hills 6-4 (9-9)
  5. Crimson Cliffs 5-5 (8-9)
  6. Hurricane 4-6 (11-7)
  7. Snow Canyon 2-8 (6-13)
  8. Canyon View 1-9 (5-14)

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ryne Williams was a Scholar-Athlete, earning CCAA Second Team All-Conference honors while playing Basketball at San Francisco State University. He is a graduate of the University's College of Liberal and Creative Arts where he double majored in Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts and History. A former host for the campus radio station, KSFS, Ryne previously worked for the Golden State Warriors and Oakland Raiders flagship radio station, 95.7 The Game.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGNews

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