Region 9 basketball: Steve Hodson Cancer Classic kicks off in Cedar City, action continues 2 more days

Cedar vs. Stansbury, Steve Hodson Cancer Classic, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 28, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — There may not have been any fans in attendance, but the first day of the annual Steve Hodson Cancer Classic saw plenty of action.

The three-day invitational tournament continues Tuesday and Wednesday, with live streams of the main varsity games at Canyon View High and Cedar High being broadcast on the CV Hudl Focus YouTube channel. To see the main schedule, click here.

Following are recaps of Monday’s games involving Region 9 teams:

Girls

Hurricane 42, Enterprise 33

At Canyon View, the Tigers secured their first win of the season in their fifth game. Junior Haley Chesley led the way with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Hurricane spread the ball around, with seven different players scoring. Five of those players tallied at least five points.

They downed an Enterprise team that was undefeated through its first eight games but had lost some key players to injury.

“The girls played extremely well,” Hurricane head coach Pepper Reddish said. “My girls played defense. They had five turnovers in the first half. … Turnovers were a huge difference. They played solid, solid defense. They passed the ball really well, and they really worked on boxing out. All about the basics.”

A slow start to the game saw Hurricane pull out to a slim three-point lead despite scoring only seven points. The Tigers pulled away in a 16-3 second quarter, scoring at will and simultaneously holding Enterprise at bay. Lindy Erickson scored six points and Morgan Stout scored five in that period alone.

The Wolves outscored the Tigers 26-19 in the second half, but the cushion built leading into halftime was more than enough to give Hurricane a nine-point victory.

Hurricane recorded 24 defensive rebounds out of 34 total in the game. They stole the ball seven times, with three coming from Madi Staples.

The win was a first step for a rebuilding Hurricane program.

“They put it all together today,” Reddish said. “It was good to see today, they needed a little confidence booster. When you work hard on something, it’s good to see a little success, for sure.”

The Tigers next play Tuesday at 11 a.m. against Stansbury at Cedar High.

 – written by Rich Allen

Cedar 57, Stansbury 40

Tournament co-host Cedar started off on the right foot with an emphatic 57-40 win over Stansbury.

Cedar vs. Stansbury, Steve Hodson Cancer Classic, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 28, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Abby Davis’s 15 points and trio of 3-pointers led the way for the Reds, who trailed 11-7 at the end of the first quarter but rallied to take a 23-16 lead at the half.

It was Cedar’s first win of the season after an 0-4 start. Cedar head coach Corry Nielsen said he was pleased with his team’s offensive output.

“We shot 46% from the field, which has been by far our very best this year,” he said, adding that the offense was helped by numerous steals that led to transition points.

“Our defense is what makes our offense go, and tonight we were able to do that,” he said.

Braylee Peterson added 14 points for the Reds, while Haylee Campbell scored 12. Stansbury was led by Sarah Gatulak’s 17 points.

The Cedar High girls next host Tooele at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Grantsville 57, Canyon View 35

At Canyon View, Grantsville’s offensive barrage in the second quarter gave the Cowboys a 32-14 halftime lead. The Falcons weren’t able to recover, although Addison Newman and Jaden Johnson each scored 11 for Canyon View.

Grantsville was led by Emily Backus, who scored 26 points, including five 3-pointers.

The Falcons next host Juab at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

San Juan 55, Dixie 35

The Dixie Flyers pieced together a lineup for their first game after 13 players and coaches tested positive for COVID-19 in two different testing periods. It was the first time they’d seen another team in 23 days and the first time the team had been all together since tryouts in November.

Dixie came out of the gate slow at Cedar High, trailing 16-7 at the first buzzer. Their shots just didn’t fall, and the Broncos found plenty of open chances on their end, but as the Flyers defense woke up, they began to close the gap.

A 15-point second quarter including a nine-point run got them right back into the game, down by only a point entering the half. They continued the pressure in the third quarter, jumping out to a 33-30 lead on the back of a trio of 3-pointers from Katie Mills, who had five from the perimeter total in the contest.

In the middle 16 minutes, Dixie outscored San Juan 25-14.

In the final frame, San Juan stormed back with a vengeance, and the Broncos ran away with 25 points in the last stanza, while Dixie scored a lone bucket from Kealah Faumania down in the post near the halfway point of the frame.

Mills led the way for Dixie with 17 points, while Faumania finished with six.

“They went to a 1-3-1, and we just couldn’t make the easy pass,” Dixie head coach Ryan Forsey said. “Just not anywhere where we need to be. It’s going to take us a while, unfortunately.”

The Flyers drop to 1-3. They take on Parowan at Canyon View on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

– written by Rich Allen

Boys

Tooele 67, Hurricane 44

At Cedar High, a 38% field goal percentage caused problems for the Hurricane Tigers as they fell to Tooele.

The Tigers saw points scored from each of the 11 players they used but collectively went only 17-for-45 from the field. From beyond the arc, they were only 4-for-13. Hurricane held pace with the Buffaloes in each of the first, third and fourth quarters. The Tigers were outscored in each of those frames but by four points at most. A problematic second quarter would be the difference maker in the game.

The Buffaloes scored 19 points while holding Hurricane to only six in the moments leading into halftime. Things just didn’t go right for the Tigers from the get-go. Kruz Gardner got a strong shot block in the post on the first possession of the quarter, but Tooele recovered off the bounce and put it away.

Bubba Moore led Hurricane with eight points on four field goals. He went 4-for-7 to be the only Tiger to score higher than 50% from the field on more than five attempts.

Jack Leavenworth sank two of Hurricane’s four from the perimeter. Gardner totaled three blocks in the game. Luke Wright collected five off the glass, four in his own end.

The Tigers drop to 1-5. Hurricane will next take on Juab at 12:30 p.m. at Canyon View High on Tuesday.

– written by Rich Allen

Grand 72, Canyon View 44

Canyon View vs. Grand County, Steve Hodson Cancer Classic, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 28, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

At Canyon View High, the host Falcons got off to a strong start against the Grand County Red Devils, taking an 18-13 lead early in the second period. However, the Red Devils then went on a 12-0 run en route to a 34-23 halftime lead.

Grand sophomore Moroni Seely-Jones scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the first half, including hitting 11-of-13 free throws. Also in double figures for Grand were Ryelan Jones with 16 points and Malachi Seely-Jones with 10. Canyon View was led by Brendan Greenhalgh’s 17 points, while Hayden Zobell added nine.

“We couldn’t knock down open shots,” Canyon View head coach Rob Potter said. “They’re not all great shots, but most are good looks. We need to defend better and smarter.”

Cedar 75, Stansbury 48

A 10-point scoring streak less than halfway through the first quarter had the Cedar Reds off to the races at home.

After Luke Armstrong won the opening tipoff, he carried it down low, spun and hit the fade away to open the scoring. Stansbury responded with a 3-pointer on their first possession to take the lead, but Cedar claimed the next 10 points, ignited by Dallin Grant cleaning up his own rebound and muscling his way through for the layup.

Grant took an easy pass from Ty Harrison on the fast break for an uncontested layup on the next drive, then assisted Treyton Tebbs on a long 3-pointer before knocking one down from the perimeter of his own to give Cedar a nine-point spread just over three minutes into the game.

They coasted to a 24-14 lead at the end of the first quarter, spread it out to 44-29 at the half and broke plus-20 at the third intermission, 62-40.

Cedar’s size proved to be too much for Stansbury, taking control of the board and post on both sides of the court.

Grant finished with a game-high 21 points, while Tebbs added 19, including four 3-pointers.

The Reds, who improved to 3-2, next host Tooele at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

– written by Rich Allen

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