Region 10 girls basketball: Snow Canyon holds on, Desert Hills wins big, Hurricane triumphs in OT

Written by Jeff Richards
December 14, 2021
Snow Canyon girls basketball at Cedar in Region 10 action, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 14, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

ST. GEORGE — The Region 10 girls basketball regular-season schedule tipped off Tuesday night, with Snow Canyon outlasting Cedar on the road and Hurricane defeating Pine View in overtime. Additionally, Desert Hills picked up a blowout win over visiting Crimson Cliffs.

Snow Canyon 43, Cedar 38

At Cedar, the Snow Canyon Warriors held the Reds scoreless over the last four minutes of the game to close out a regular-season opening win.

Cedar had started strong, opening a 7-2 lead early on. The Reds still led by five at the halftime break, 21-16.

Snow Canyon scored the first four points of the third quarter to cut the deficit to one, but Cedar pulled away again. Then, late in the third, freshman Olivia Hamlin made a layup off a steal to put the Warriors up 32-31, their first lead since the beginning of the game.

Snow Canyon girls basketball at Cedar in Region 10 action, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 14, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The third quarter ended with the teams deadlocked 34-34, but Snow Canyon scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to pull away a bit.

Midway through the final stanza, the Reds had narrowed their deficit to three points, 41-38, but the Warriors then held Cedar scoreless over the last four minutes.

Cedar still had a chance to go for a 3-pointer to tie in the final minute, but Snow Canyon forced a jump ball, after which Hamlin got fouled. She missed the front end of a one-and-one with 18 seconds left, but teammate Lainee Leavitt rebounded the shot and put it back in to give the Warriors a five-point cushion that proved to be the final score.

“We kind of lost our composure a little bit and they had some good plays,” Cedar head coach Corry Nielsen said. “We missed out on some offensive rebounds and had some unforced turnovers.”

“Our execution has to improve and that starts with me,” Nielsen added.

Snow Canyon head coach Dan Roden said he was happy for his team.

“Obviously a huge win for us and for the girls’ confidence,” he said. “I was very pleased with our half-court defense.”

Hamlin led all scorers with 20 points, while teammate Fetu Tapasa added six and three other players contributed four points apiece.

Cedar was led by guard Braylee Peterson’s 15 points, while Haylee Campbell added eight and Annalyse Shimada scored seven.

Snow Canyon improved to 4-2 overall, 1-0 in Region 10 play, while Cedar dropped to 3-3 overall, 0-1 in region.

Hurricane 41, Pine View 39 (OT)

At Hurricane, the Tigers defeated the Pine View Panthers in overtime thanks to a steal and a layup by Morgan Stout that gave Hurricane a two-point lead during the extra session.

The two teams played evenly during the first half, with Hurricane taking a 22-21 lead at the break. Pine View then outscored the Tigers, 9-2, during the third period to lead by six points after three. Hurricane then rallied to tie the game during the fourth, sending it into overtime.

The Tigers outscored the Panthers, 4-2, during the five-minute overtime period, with Adri Gubler sinking a pair of free throws prior to Stout’s go-ahead layup.

“We had to fight for the ball back and forth over the last few minutes,” Hurricane head coach Pepper Reddish said.

Lindy Erickson scored 11 to lead Hurricane, with Gubler adding 10 points as the Tigers improved to 3-2 overall, 1-0 in league play.

Pine View was led by Ellie Norton’s 16 points, with Emma Jensen adding nine. Pine View stands at 3-2 on the season, 0-1 in region.

Desert Hills 81, Crimson Cliffs 28

The girls basketball team from Desert Hills High School got its first Region 10 victory of the year Tuesday night with a convincing 81-28 win over Crimson Cliffs.

The game was over quickly as the Thunder raced out to a 24-4 lead after the first quarter, upping that advantage to 36-10 at halftime.

Desert Hills and Crimson Cliffs in a Region 10 girls basketball game, St. George, Utah, Dec. 14, 2021 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

“We came out with a positive attitude. We want to come out strong no matter who we’re playing against,” Desert Hills senior guard Alivia Cluff told St. George News. “I felt like we really moved the ball very well tonight and worked hard as a team.”

Cluff was the leading scorer in the game with 14 points including two 3-pointers.

Laci Jones threw in 13 for the winners while Enid Vaifanua scored 12 for the Thunder, which saw 12 different players get on the score sheet.

Julia Jacobsen netted 11 Desert Hills points and Sa’de Turlington rounded out the double-digit scorers for the home team with 10 points. 

“I think we have good chemistry. I think every single one of us from the bench to the starters can play basketball,” Cluff said. “Every single one of us can do something to help the team and I think that’s a really good thing.”

Senior Brooklyn Winget led Crimson Cliffs in the game, scoring 8 points. Hallee Tebbs was next for the Mustangs with 5 points. Summer Adams and Samiyah Jones each scored 4 points in the defeat.

Desert Hills evened its overall record at 3-3 and started the Region 10 schedule 1-0.

“I think going into the region, we’re all going to have the same mentality like we did tonight,” Cluff said. “So not expect anything, keep working hard, let our defense create our offense. Keep that mentality to go hard no matter who we’re playing or what game we’re at.”

Crimson Cliffs slipped to 3-6 overall, 0-1 to start the Region 10 campaign.

— written by E. George Goold

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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