ST. GEORGE – Pine View remained undefeated and got its second win in region play with a 49-36 win over the visiting Hurricane Tigers Wednesday night at The Pit.
The Panthers took a 10-point lead into the locker room at halftime, extended the lead to 22 points in the third quarter, then held off a Tiger rally in the fourth to take the win.
The first quarter started slowly for both squads as many shots failed to find their mark. The scoring for Pine View was split between wing Garrett Bowker and post Jed Newby, who scored four apiece in the first to take an 8-6 advantage. Bowker and Newby would score the Panthers first 18 points of the ballgame.
At the 6:07 mark in the second, Hurricane tied the game at 11 with a 3-pointer by Kaden Langston. Langston was playing his first game of the year after suffering a late-season football injury.
“It is good having him back,” said his father and Hurricane head coach Todd Langston. “He is not 100 percent yet, but he gave us some good minutes.”
Three quick baskets by Bowker and Newby broke the tie and extended the lead to five with 3:40 to play in the half. Also returning from injury for his first game of the season was the Panthers’ Kendrick Spencer. Spencer came off the bench in the second quarter and immediately connected from distance twice.
“Kendrick (Spencer) came in and gave us a lift,” said Panther head coach Darrell Larsen. “If you give him room, that shot is going to go down.”
Spencer said it felt good to be back.
“It was great to get out there,” he said. “My shot felt good. It was nice to get some good looks and see our shots falling tonight.”
Kody Wilstead’s putback with 35 seconds to play extended the lead to 10. The score was 30-20 at halftime. In the first half, Bowker and Newby scored 10 apiece with Spencer adding 6. For Hurricane, post Reagan Hinton led the way with 6.
Coming out of intermission, Wilstead took control of the game, scoring four consecutive baskets as part of a 14-2 PV run. With less than a minute to play in the third, Pine View held its biggest lead 44-22.
“At halftime, the coaches told us to feed it inside,” said Wilstead. “We wanted to play an inside-outside game, but they did not double-team me. I knew that I could take my man one-on-one.”
The big third quarter was a death knell for the Tigers.
“That run hurt us,” said Coach Langston. “Our guards need to get to the post once he puts it on the floor and make him pick up his dribble.”
The Tigers began a run of their own over the next seven minutes. They outscored Pine View 12-0, nine from Austin Beatty. Beatty hit a 3-pointer just before the end of the third quarter then scored the first three baskets of the fourth, two on putbacks.
“Fortunately for us, it took them a long time to put that run together,” said Larsen. “We played excellent defense, but then came down and put up a quick 3-pointer. That is not what we wanted.”
A three-point play from Wilstead ended the run and gave the Panthers a 47-34 advantage at the 1:45 mark.
“I was happy with our response in the fourth quarter,” said Coach Langston. “But the hole we dug was too big to overcome.”
Two free throws apiece from the Tigers’ James Bennion and the Panthers’ Chaz Peterson brought the final score to 49-36.
Wilstead led all scorers with 13. Beatty led the Tigers with 10. The Panthers improve to 8-0, 2-0 in Region 9. Hurricane drops to 2-4, 0-2 in region play.
Both teams will be competing in the Coach Walker Classic. Pine View will play Maple Mountain at Burns Arena on the Dixie State University campus at 8:30 p.m. Thursday night. Hurricane will have its next game Friday at 5 p.m. against Manti, also on the Dixie State campus.
Stats: Pine View 49, Hurricane 36
Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
Hurricane vs Pine View, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Dec. 17, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Kody Wilstead (4) grabs a rebound over Reagan Hinton (12) and James Bennion (2), Hurricane vs Pine View, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Dec. 17, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Kaden Langston looks for a lane to the hoop, Hurricane vs Pine View, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Dec. 17, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Blake Ence drives to the hoop for the Panthers, Hurricane vs Pine View, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Dec. 17, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George NewsH Chaz Peterson brings the ball up court, Hurricane vs Pine View, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Dec. 17, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Kendrick Spencer, Hurricane vs Pine View, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Dec. 17, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Austen Beatty (10), Hurricane vs Pine View, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Dec. 17, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Tyson Yardley grabs a pass for the Tigers, Hurricane vs Pine View, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Dec. 17, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Garrett Bowker drives the baseline, Hurricane vs Pine View, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Dec. 17, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @oldschoolag
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.