Region 10 girls basketball: Desert Hills, Snow Canyon, Dixie all post double-digit wins

Written by E. George Goold
February 8, 2022

ST. GEORGE — The Region 10 girls basketball champions have already been crowned, but teams are still playing important games as the regular season nears completion.

Region champion Desert Hills stayed undefeated in region play after winning big on the road Tuesday night in Cedar City.

Elsewhere, Snow Canyon won convincingly at home and Dixie stole one on the road as local teams entered the stretch run before the playoffs.

Following are recaps of Tuesday night’s games:

Dixie 49, Crimson Cliffs 36

The two teams at the bottom of the Region 10 standings played a physical game and relied on their defenses. Both squads struggled to score in the Fieldhouse during the first quarter.

Jaide Bundy and Ariana Catardi sank buckets for Dixie and Hali Smith had a hoop and a free throw.

Crimson Cliffs hosts Dixie in a Region 10 girls basketball game, Washington, Utah, Feb. 8, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Meanwhile, Samiyah Jones made two shots for the Mustangs’ only points and Dixie led 7-4 after the first quarter.

The pace of play opened up a little bit in the second frame. Kinsey Plewe scored a bank shot then finished a fast break and Crimson Cliffs briefly led, 8-7. 

But Kealah Faumuina answered for Dixie, scoring six points in the second quarter as the Flyers retook the lead.

Rees Lorentzen made two shots and Smith had another bucket in the quarter as Dixie took a 19-14 advantage into halftime.

“I think our bench players stepping up, coming out there and doing what they needed to do, maintaining on the defensive side, that was the key,” Dixie coach Briana Barrett told St. George News after the win.

Dixie won both the third and fourth quarters by outscoring the home team 15-11 in each frame.

Bundy led all scorers in the game with 17 points for Dixie. Faumuina contributed 11 points to the winning cause and Lorentzen finished with eight points.

“I can say we are improving,” Barrett said after the win brought Dixie’s region mark to 3-7. 

“We are working on the little mistakes, we’re working on fine tuning those,” Barrett added. “And other girls keep stepping up each game and it’s great to see that when we have to go deeper into our bench.”

Jones led the Mustangs in their effort, scoring 12 points. Plewe finished with nine and Brooklyn Winget scored five for Crimson Cliffs.

Snow Canyon 68, Pine View 35

The Warriors were strong on their home floor, racing out to a 25-10 lead after one quarter and never letting Pine View get close after that.

Snow Canyon hosts Pine View in a Region 10 girls basketball game, Washington, Utah, Feb. 8, 2022 | Photo by Aaron Crane, St. George News

Olivia Hamlin paced the winners with 18 points, including two 3-pointers. Fetuao Tapasa was next for Snow Canyon with 10 points.

Seven other players on Snow Canyon’s roster scored at least two points in the victory. Natalie Olson and Kelly Howard scored eight points apiece for the Warriors.

Joey Jensen and Kiza Andrews each threw in seven points in the win.

Snow Canyon’s defense held the visitors to just seven points in the third quarter and eight points in the fourth quarter.

Pine View was led by Addie Topham, who scored 10 points. Ellie Norton was next with nine points and Ashlyn Clark scored seven for the Panthers in the setback.

Desert Hills 52, Cedar 31

At Cedar High, the visiting Desert Hills Thunder kept their unbeaten region record intact with a 52-31 win over the Reds.

Desert Hills at Cedar, Region 10 girls basketball, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 8, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Desert Hills jumped out to an 18-8 lead in the first quarter and was never seriously threatened thereafter.

Julia Jacobsen led the way for the Thunder with 21 points, while Alivia Cluff added 10 and Sa’de Turlington scored seven.

“I thought the girls played hard tonight,” said Desert Hills coach Ron Denos. “They really worked on getting the ball inside and executing plays. We play better when our defense gets after it and we run, and we did a good job of that tonight.”

Sophomore Kiara Hansen was Cedar’s only double-figure scorer with 10 points.

— written by Jeff Richards

Region 10 girls basketball standings (as of Feb. 9):

  1. Desert Hills 11-0 (15-4). 4A RPI ranking: 2nd.
  2. Snow Canyon 9-2 (14-6). RPI: 4th.
  3. Cedar 4-6 (9-9). RPI: 9th.
  4. Hurricane 4-6 (9-11). RPI: 8th.
  5. Pine View 4-6 (8-11). RPI: 7th.
  6. Dixie 3-7 (6-11). RPI: 10th.
  7. Crimson Cliffs 1-9 (4-15). RPI: 12th

Thursday’s games:

  • Dixie at Hurricane, 7 p.m.
  • Desert Hills at Pine View, 7 p.m.
  • Crimson Cliffs at Cedar, 7 p.m.

Updated Feb. 9, 9:15 a.m. to include game coverage video.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric George Goold came to St. George News from southwestern Colorado, where he was a radio news reporter. He has been a journalist for over 20 years in five different states. He graduated with a master's degree in English from Kansas State University and writes nonfiction as well. Goold has been published in Sunstone Magazine and has done multiple public readings about local history. When he has free time, he enjoys chess, movies and dogs.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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