Region 9 girls basketball recap: Cedar still undefeated; Desert Hills drops 2 in a row

Written by Ryne Williams
February 6, 2020

ST. GEORGE — The top two teams in Region 9 girls basketball met again last Friday night at Desert Hills, as the Thunder hosted the Cedar Lady Reds.

Down by 17 at halftime, Cedar made a remarkable comeback to win by five. Then on Wednesday night, the Thunder suffered their second straight loss, falling at Canyon View as the Lady Falcons pulled off a major upset. Elsewhere in recent region action, the Hurricane Tigers have won their last two games, while Pine View, Snow Canyon and Dixie have each gone 1-1 since Jan. 31.

Friday’s games

Cedar 58, Desert Hills 53

Trailing 38-21 at the half, the Cedar Reds came back to defeat Desert Hills. Even after its second loss to Cedar, however, the Thunder remained at No. 1 in the 4A RPI rankings, while Cedar stayed at No. 3. Read the full story about the game here.

Dixie 64, Crimson Cliffs 21

Dixie traveled to Crimson Cliffs and won 64-21. The Flyers had three players in double figures, with Joslyn Bundy and Sina Schwalger scoring 13 points each. For the Mustangs, Brooklyn Winget had 11 points on the night.

Hurricane 45, Canyon View 36

Hurricane jumped out to a nine-point lead at half, and the two teams finished the second half with the same margin, as the Tigers won 45-36.

Ashlyn Banks had 10 points for Canyon View, while the Tigers’ Kandalyn Hinton had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Brooke Thomas also added 12 for the Tigers.

“It was a close game the entire way,” Hurricane head coach Shelly Thomas said in a text. “CV is a team that never gave up. We put our press on them and tried to slow them down and get a few steals. We were also able to show down Nicoll and Banks inside.”

Pine View 54, Snow Canyon 52

Pine View at Snow Canyon, St. George, Utah, Jan. 31, 2020 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News / Cedar City News

The first time these two teams met, Pine View got the best of the Warriors, winning by 13. This time it was a home game for the Warriors, and it went right down to the wire.

Pine View got the road win against Snow Canyon 54-52, which was big for the Region 9 standings. With the win, Pine View jumped ahead of Snow Canyon to take sole possession of third place.

Averi Papa had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Ellie Wilson added 13 points in the win. For Snow canyon, Tylei Jensen led all scorers with 25 points, and Olivia Harris added 13 points.

Wednesday’s games

Canyon View 52, Desert Hills 50

Desert Hills at Canyon View, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 5, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

In a remarkable upset, the Canyon View Lady Falcons toppled Desert Hills. The first half was a back-and-forth battle, with Canyon View guard Addison Newman scoring 10 of her game-high 19 points in the first quarter, including a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers that tied the score 10-10. A minute or so later, Desert Hills’ Kami Bliss drained a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer to put the Thunder back on top, 13-12. Canyon View went on to take a 24-22 halftime lead.

The teams stayed even throughout much of the second half, with the game being tied at 34-34 after three. The Falcons finished strong at the end, pulling out a 52-50 win.

Canyon View head coach Jaycee Barnhurst said the key to the victory was “huge defense and big shots.” The Falcons shot 50 percent from the field and had 26 rebounds and 14 assists as a team. Ashlyn Banks scored 13 for Canyon View, while Harlee Nicoll added eight. The Thunder were led by Shailee Bundy’s 15 points, while Bliss and Syd Peisley each scored 11.

Desert Hills, which fell to 8-3 in Region 9 play with the loss, next hosts Crimson Cliffs on Friday. Canyon View, which improved to 2-9 with the win, next plays at cross-town rival Cedar on Friday.

— written by Jeff Richards

Cedar 66, Pine View 48

Pine View at Cedar, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 5, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

At Cedar, the Reds jumped out to a 19-point lead in the first half and kept a double-digit cushion the rest of the way, defeating the Pine View Panthers 66-48. Cedar guard Logann Laws led the way with 17 points, four assists and four steals.

“Logann was fantastic tonight,” Cedar coach Corry Nielsen said. “I think this is one of the best games I’ve seen her play. She was aggressive, she attacked, she made passes and ran the offense.”

Others contributing to Cedar’s balanced scoring attack included Mayci Torgerson, who scored 12, and Japrix Weaver and Samantha Johnston, who made 11 apiece. Pine View was led by Ellie Wilson’s 18 points, with Leiani Tonga adding 11. Pine View center Averi Papa was held to two points, although she did grab a team-high eight rebounds.

Nielsen said his team made some offensive adjustments after Friday’s close call at Desert Hills.

“Our ball movement down at the Desert Hills game wasn’t very good,” Nielsen said. “The ball was one one side of the dribble too much. So tonight we emphasized passing the ball from side to side, passing inside and finding the open player, and that’s what we did tonight. We did that very well.”

Cedar, which improved to 11-0 in Region 9 play with the win, next hosts Canyon View on Friday. Pine View, which fell to 7-4, will play at Dixie on Friday.

— written by Jeff Richards

Hurricane 49, Crimson Cliffs 33

Hurricane at Crimson Cliffs, Washington, Utah, Feb. 5, 2020 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News / Cedar City News

At Crimson Cliffs High School, the Mustangs took on the visiting Hurricane Tigers. The Tigers jumped out to an 18-point lead at halftime and continued to roll in the second half, winning 49-33.

Haley Chelsey led the way for the Tigers with 14 points, while Brooke Thomas had nine points in the win. Brooklyn Winget had a monster 20-point night for the Mustangs, and McKenzie McKone added six points in the loss.

After the game, Hurricane head coach Shelly Thomas was complimentary of the Mustangs, mentioning that they have come together as a team this season and will be better next year.

Next up for the Tigers is Snow Canyon and Dixie, both on the road. The Mustangs travel to Desert Hills on Friday, and then they are at home against the top team in the region, Cedar.

Snow Canyon 58, Dixie 37

At Dixie, the Snow Canyon Warriors bounced back from their loss to Pine View with a win over the Dixie Flyers.

Read the full story about the game here.

Region 9 girls basketball standings (as of Feb. 6)

  1. Cedar 11-0 (17-2)
  2. Desert Hills 8-3 (15-3)
  3. Snow Canyon 7-4 (13-4)
  4. Pine View 7-4 (12-7)
  5. Dixie 5-6 (10-8)
  6. Hurricane 4-7 (6-13)
  7. Canyon View 2-9 (6-13)
  8. Crimson Cliffs 0-11 (1-17)

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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.

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Twitter: @STGNews

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