In a game that was close the whole way, the Dixie Flyers pulled out a one-point win at home over the Hurricane Tigers.

Both teams scored either 11 or 12 points in every single quarter, with Hurricane leading 12-11 after one period, tied 23-23 at halftime, and Dixie leading 35-34 after three quarters.

Remarkably, both teams made exactly the same number of two-point field goals (15) and 3-pointers (three).

But while Hurricane converted 6-of-8 free throw attempts, Dixie made 7-of-12 from the line.

“The difference in the game came down to a free throw,” Dixie coach Coty Bundy told St. George News afterward. “Just a fun game to be a part of.”

Dixie’s Jaycee Bundy made back-to-back 3-pointers at the start of the third quarter to give the Flyers a 29-23 lead. Although Hurricane’s Adri Gubler quickly answered with a trey of her own, the Tigers’ offense stalled over the next few minutes as Dixie built a seven-point lead, thanks to Kealah Faumuina’s layup that made it 35-28 Flyers with 1:30 left in the third.

However, Hurricane then finished the quarter with a 6-0 run, capped off with a buzzer-beater by Addison Crandall that cut the Tigers’ deficit to one point, 35-34.

Hurricane managed to take a 43-39 lead with about three minutes remaining, thanks to an inside shot by Crandall, assisted by Nizhoni Dominguez.

Faumuina then drove inside and scored, getting fouled in the process. She converted the conventional three-point play to make it 43-42, with the Tigers still clinging to the lead.

Then, with under two minutes to play Dixie’s Hali Smith stole the ball on successive possessions, each of which resulted in two points. She made two free throws with 1:35 left to put the Flyers up 44-43. Then, seconds later, Smith stole the ball again and went down for a layup to put Dixie ahead 46-43.

Hurricane made a pair of free throws to get back within one point with just over one minute left, the Tigers had a couple fouls to give before they were able to send Faumuina to the free-throw line with 10.9 seconds left. She missed the front end of the one-and-one, and Hurricane rebounded, then called time out with 7.9 seconds left.

Hurricane was unable to get a good look for its last shot, which bounced harmlessly off the glass, allowing Dixie to escape with the win.

“They did a good job on making that last stand there,” Bundy said, adding that he’d asked his players during the time out if they wanted to switch up the defense for that last play.

“I looked them in the eyes and they said no, let’s stick with what’s been working … what we’ve been doing the whole game,” he added.

Bundy said he was glad to see his players get back on track after Tuesday’s 16-point loss at Crimson Cliffs.

“That was a hard pill to swallow for everybody, and I can’t tell you how proud I am of these girls for bouncing back and competing,” he said. “It was pretty fun to see the fight in the girls and their determination. So yeah, they stepped up to get the shots when they needed to hit them.”

“We had 27 turnovers in our last game and it’s really hard to win a ballgame with that many turnovers,” Bundy added. “So we talked about valuing each possession.”

Faumuina scored 22 points to lead the Flyers, while Jaycee Bundy added 11 points and Smith scored 9.

Hurricane was led by Crandall’s 16 points, with Abbigail Stout adding 10 and Dominguez contributing 9.

Dixie, which improved to 5-2 in Region 10 play, 11-6 overall, has a bye next Tuesday; the Flyers will travel to Pine View to face the Panthers on Feb. 2. Meanwhile, Hurricane (3-4, 3-10) plays its next game at Desert Hills on Jan. 31 at 7 p.m.

— written by Jeff Richards