High school basketball season tips off with selected pre-Thanksgiving contests

Stock image via Pixabay, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Even before Thanksgiving, preseason high school basketball contests have already started throughout the state, with a number of local teams seeing their first action Tuesday night.

Following are recaps of Tuesday’s boys and girls basketball games involving Southern Utah teams, along with a look ahead at other preseason openers. Although most teams don’t start region play until early January, the preseason schedule gives them an early start toward building their RPI rankings.

4A boys

Cedar 74, Maple Mountain 65

Tuesday night at Maple Mountain, the Reds used a 17-9 third-quarter surge to pull away from the Golden Eagles and give new head coach Tyler Monks a win in his debut. Landon Kreitzer scored 19 points to lead Cedar, while Boston Garrett made 17 and Ty Bronson added 14. The hot-shooting Reds made a total of 13 3-pointers during the game.

Wasatch 65, Hurricane 57

At Hurricane, the Tigers fell to the Wasatch Wasps. Hurricane trailed by one point at halftime, 30-29, but the Wasps went on a 22-8 run during the third quarter to pull away. The Tigers made just 9-of-22 free throw attempts during the contest.

Meanwhile, the Snow Canyon Warriors, the defending state 4A champions, are scheduled to open their preseason Tuesday, Nov. 29, at Green Valley High School in Henderson, Nevada. The remaining four Region 10 teams are all scheduled to begin their respective schedules on the road on Thursday, Dec. 1, with Crimson Cliffs playing at Payson, Dixie at Mountain View, Desert Hills at Ridgeline and Pine View at Mountain Crest.

4A girls

Snow Canyon 71, Enterprise 25

Tuesday at Enterprise, the Snow Canyon Warriors jumped out to a 21-2 lead in the first quarter and never looked back during a rout of the Wolves. Olivia Hamlin and Natalie Olson scored 16 points apiece for Snow Canyon.

Four other Region 10 teams will begin their preseason schedules on the road Tuesday, Nov. 29, with Hurricane at Canyon View, Pine View at Beaver, Cedar at Carbon and Desert Hills at Soda Springs, Idaho. Then, on Thursday, Dec. 1, Crimson Cliffs will open at Beaver while Dixie travels to New Mexico to play at Kirtland Central.

3A boys 

The Canyon View boys will tip off their preseason schedule at home vs. Hurricane on Wednesday, Nov. 30.

3A girls

Canyon View 46, Beaver 43

Tuesday night, the Canyon View Falcons opened their season with a close win at home over the Beavers. Bethanee Vargas led Canyon View’s balanced scoring with 13 points, with Jayda Gleave adding 9 and Maya Nichols and Kamryn Brush each scoring 8.

1A/2A schools

In 1A/2A boys action Tuesday night, Millard defeated Diamond Ranch at Millard by a score of 110-21, Wayne won at home over Green River 63-46, and Piute won at Beaver, 67-51. That game marked 2-0 Piute’s second win, as the Thunderbirds also defeated 3A San Juan 54-48 on Nov. 16.

Meanwhile, in 1A/2A action, Kanab handled Panuitch 68-43 on Tuesday night. Anna Cutler led Kanab with 20 points, while Ashlyn Houston added 15, with the two players making nine 3-pointers between them. Panguitch was led by Tabi Henrie’s 17 points. The Lady Cowboys improved to 2-0, while the Bobcats fell to 1-2 on the young season.

Defending 1A girls state champion Piute has started its season 1-2, with losses to both Kanab and Rich last wee and a win over Tabiona in between.

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

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