ST. GEORGE — In a game that featured more surges than a New York brown-out, Dixie finished on the upswing and came away with a 61-51 victory over Pine View in Region 9 girls basketball action.
Pine View led 47-45 with under six minutes left in the game, prompting Lady Flyers coach Jaime Araiza to take a time out. Araiza pleaded with her team to step it up on defense the final minutes of the game and that’s exactly what they did. Dixie closed the game on a 16-4 run to capture its second region win of the year.
“Defense did it,” said DHS senior Aubri Challis. “We came in after halftime a little bit flat. But coach got us together and said ‘Hey, we gotta pick it up.’ Our defense was solid after that.”
Challis and Alexa Estridge combined for 10 of those final 16 points. Estridge finished the game as the top scorer with 26 points on 13 of 21 from the floor. Amazingly, she didn’t shoot a single free throw and also didn’t commit a single persinal foul.
“I love playing with Alexa,” Challis said. “She’s always open, always where she needs to be. She was in her zone and she hits them all.”
Araiza said it’s fun having the two seniors as Dixie’s team leaders.
“Some nights Aubri runs the show and gets the points and Lexa is the sidekick and other nights Lexa steps up,” she said. “The other thing is that they are such good ball players and such good friends that it doesn’t matter to them who has the big night. Lexa got into a bit of a shooting slump before the holidays. but she worked her heart out over the break to get out of it and to have her break out and have a great game and light it up tonight, you can’t ask for anything more.”
It looked like Dixie might pull away for an easy victory in the second quarter as the Flyers used the home court and some hot shooting to run out to a 32-24 lead. But the Panthers ruled the third quarter, cutting it to five, then three and then one. Freshman Claire Newby’s baseline jumper with two seconds left in the third gave PV its first lead since the first quarter.
“They’re hustlers, they’re scrappers, they’re huge contenders,” Araiza said of the Panthers. “They’re a tough team and they rebound the ball really well.”
The game stayed even for the first couple of minutes in the final period before Challis and Estridge led Dixie’s late run. Cheyanne Libert came off the bench to help the Flyers as well, chipping in 9 of her 12 points in the fourth quarter.
Dixie improves to 9-3 overall and 2-1 in region play with the win, tying the Flyers with Pine View for second place in Region 9. Dixie hit 24 of 49 shots from the floor (48 percent).
The Panthers, 6-2 and 2-1, made just 33 percent from the floor (19 of 58), but dominated on the glass, out-rebounding Dixie 51-26, including 27 on the offensive end. Tayvia Ah Quin and Sarrah Pierce each had 16 points to lead Pine View. Ah Quin also had 14 rebounds.
Stats: Dixie 61, PV 51
Snow Canyon 65, Hurricane 60 (F/OT)
Nikenna Durante had a career-high 24 points, including four points in overtime, as the Lady Warriors pulled off the road win to capture their first region victory.
Snow Canyon spent most of the night at the free throw line — 41 attempts in all — and converted just enough of them (23) to hold on for the win.
Madi Mooring added 14 for the Warriors, who won for the second game in a row after a four-game losing streak.
Snow Canyon led by as many as 10 in the fourth quarter, but Hurricane went on a 12-2 run to close out the game and force the extra four minutes. London Steglich had the game tying shot in the lane with just seconds left to make it 60-60.
But the Tigers couldn’t get the lid off the basket in the OT. Neither team made a field goal. Shaylee Reed hit a free throw to make it 61-60 for the Warriors and Durante closed the game by hitting 4 of 6 freebies to give SC the W.
Snow Canyon, 4-9 and 1-2, is at league leader Cedar Thursday night.
Hurricane, 2-10 and 0-3, got 20 points from Steglich and 10 from Taylor Anderson. The Tigers are at Canyon View Thursday.
Stats: SC 65, Hurricane 60
Cedar 34, Canyon View 29
The Lady Reds were ice cold all night, but still pulled out a win against the rival Falcons.
Despite shooting 28 percent from the floor (11-39) and 41 percent from the line (9-22), Cedar had just enough for the victory. Courtney Morley had 14 points and Javlyn Weaver had 5 points and 10 boards in the win for CHS, which improved to 8-3 overall. The Lady Reds are the only region team left without a loss at 2-0 in league play.
Canyon View, 2-9 and 1-1, got 15 points from Abbie Corry.
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Alexa Estridge, Dixie vs. Pine View, Girls Basketball, St. George, Utah, Jan. 6, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Dixie G Grace Killian tries to split two Pine View defenders, Dixie vs. Pine View, Girls Basketball, St. George, Utah, Jan. 6, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Panther G Amber Archibald grabs a loose ball in front od Dixies Beatriz Oliva (35), Dixie vs. Pine View, Girls Basketball, St. George, Utah, Jan. 6, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Pine View G Rachel Lusk brings the ball up court after a steal, Dixie vs. Pine View, Girls Basketball, St. George, Utah, Jan. 6, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Tayvia Ah Quin (24) floats a shot in the lane over several Flyer defenders, Dixie vs. Pine View, Girls Basketball, St. George, Utah, Jan. 6, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Claire Newby puts up a shot in the lane, Dixie vs. Pine View, Girls Basketball, St. George, Utah, Jan. 6, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Alexa Estridge takes the ball to the hoop for the Flyers, Dixie vs. Pine View, Girls Basketball, St. George, Utah, Jan. 6, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Flyer G Aubri Challis puts up a tough shot in the lane, Dixie vs. Pine View, Girls Basketball, St. George, Utah, Jan. 6, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Pine View Head Coach Chris Brinagh, Dixie vs. Pine View, Girls Basketball, St. George, Utah, Jan. 6, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Dixie Head Coach Jaime Araiza, Dixie vs. Pine View, Girls Basketball, St. George, Utah, Jan. 6, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Dixie G Kelli Christensen (3) fights for a loose ball, Dixie vs. Pine View, Girls Basketball, St. George, Utah, Jan. 6, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
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