4A state basketball semifinals: schedule and live updates

Shailee Bundy lays the ball up for Desert Hills basketball in the team's win over No. 7 Juan Diego, 4A state basketball playoffs, Sevier Valley Center, Richfield, Utah, March 1, 2021 | Photo by Rich Allen, St. George News

RICHFIELD — The 4A state basketball playoffs continue with the semifinal round of both the boys and girls brackets at the Sevier Valley Center on Tuesday.

Region 9 has one school represented in each of the day’s four games, starting with top-seeded Pine View girls dueling No. 5 Logan.

For the bracket of the girls tournament, click here. For the boys bracket, click here.

Following is the schedule of events for Region 9 teams and live updates as they happen, with live photos in a gallery at the end of the story:

Game Updates

No. 6 Cedar 66, No. 7 Ridgeline 61 (boys): 7:30 p.m.

Cedar fended off a resilient Ridgeline squad to punch its ticket to the finals.

The Riverhawks did not lead until the second half, but persistently nipped at the heels of Cedar in the first and went blow-for-blow the entirety of the third. Even after the Reds made a statement by getting up big in the fourth quarter, the Riverhawks battled back into a one-possession contest.

Cedar jumped out early by taking the first six points of the game. It played to a 18-14 first quarter lead after Treyton Tebbs hit a couple of late, tough treys. Cedar stretched it out to 28-20 in the second before Ridgeline responded with seven in a row of their own and a 31-29 lead at the half.

To start the quarter, Ridgeline was awarded the ball despite a jump ball at the end of the half that should have put the ball in the Reds’ hands. Instead, a Riverhawk drained a 3-pointer, giving them their first lead of the day. The teams went blow-for-blow for the remainder of the quarter to a 46-46 lead.

Cedar took a dominant lead in the fourth by scoring the first eight points of the frame. The Reds by led as much as 11 points in the fourth, the biggest lead of the game.

No. 4 Desert Hills 52, No. 1 Juan Diego Catholic 50 (boys): 5:30 p.m.

The Thunder scraped by to knock off the top seed in the tournament on a last-minute 3-pointer from the corner by Reggie Newby.

Desert Hills nearly let it slip though, after leading by eight with under two minutes to play. Newby’s basket in the final moments was the Thunder’s lone basket in the remainder of the game, and was just enough to counter Juan Diego’s nine point run that saw them take the lead.

Desert Hills turned a two-point deficit at the first buzzer to a three-point lead at the half.

The teams played to a 36-36 tie at the third horn. Foul trouble put Juan Diego in the bonus early in the fourth and Desert Hills showed some discipline by only giving the Soaring Eagle eight free throw opportunities in the final frame. Juan Diego did the Thunder some favors by only landing four of them.

A Soaring Eagle team that plays strong defense held Desert Hills to their lowest-scoring effort since Dixie held them to 45 on Jan. 22. It made the Thunder have to take what it could get and Preston Vandermyde led them in scoring, a role he is not normally asked to take.

Vandermyde scored 12. Newby was second on Desert Hills with 10.

The Thunder will play the winner of No. 6 Cedar and No. 7 Ridgeline in the championship game on Wednesday.

No. 6 Sky View 44, No. 2 Desert Hills 41 (girls): 3:30 p.m.

Desert Hills became the second Region 9 team to fall in an upset, eliminating Southern Utah completely from the girls bracket. The Thunder overcame another slow start to make the game competitive, but Sky View’s shots ultimately turned out to be the more clutch.

The teams see-sawed the lead in the fourth quarter, but the Bobcats seemingly left every exchange with the momentum. When Desert Hills scraped together a tie or a lead, Sky View responded immediately with a 3-pointer, which they had three of in the last frame.

Up 42-41 with just over two minutes to play, Sky View went into time-killing mode, though Desert Hills had fouls to give. However, the Thunder tried to get the ball back with a press cleanly, which set up an easy layup in the post for Sky View.

Now down three, Desert Hills got the ball to Enid Vaifanua, one of Region 9’s top 3-point shooters, in the corner.

Sky View held Desert Hills to only four points in the first quarter, all on Shailee Bundy free throws. Meanwhile, Sky View hit four from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers.

The Bobcats got into foul trouble and let Desert Hills back into the game with 10 successful free throws on 15 attempts across the first half.

No. 1 Pine View 68, No. 5 Logan, 70 (OT) (girls): 1:30 p.m.

The Pine View Panthers’ resilience nearly guided them to a remarkable comeback and a trip to the finals, but late foul trouble and a slow start came back to haunt them as they narrowly fell in overtime.

Logan took a dominant 41-22 lead into halftime behind Amber Kartchner’s 19 first-half points, including five 3-pointers.

The Grizzlies started the game on a 9-0 run before Aly Schmitt got Pine View on the board at the 5:26 mark.

The Panthers struggled with discipline, turning the ball over plenty and missing shot chances. The first quarter ended with a 25-12 score.

Averi Papa scored eight for Pine View in the first half. In the second, she was dominant as the Panthers mounted a comeback.

Pine View tied it late in the third after scoring an unanswered 16 points. Papa had seven of them. The Panthers drew even on an Emma Jensen layup to make it 48-48. Kartchner landed a buzzer beater to put Logan back on top entering the fourth quarter.

Pine View took its first lead of the game with 3:24 as Papa used her height to draw separation in the paint and put Pine View up 56-55.

Late foul trouble gave Logan six points from the free-throw line. The Grizzlies had a chance to win it with two seconds left in a 62-62 tie, but missed them both.

In overtime, Alex Olson gave Pine View an early lead on a 3-pointer, but Kartchner scored eight in the extra period to make the difference.

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, 2021, all rights reserved.

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