ST. GEORGE — After an uncharacteristically off-night Wednesday, Jake Hawes had to know that starting well against Canyon View was important.
And start well he did, making his first six shots, including two 3-pointers, on his way to a 30-point night. His barrage of shots helped stake the Dixie Flyers to a 25-10 first-quarter advantage and the rest of the night was just for show as Dixie won big, 78-48.
“The kids played great,” Dixie coach Ryan Cuff said. “Hopefully we can keep the momentum.”
Hawes ended up with six 3-pointers in the game despite playing sparingly in the fourth quarter. He had 24 of his points and five of his treys in the first half as Dixie busted the game open before halftime. It was 45-20 at intermission.
The Falcons actually led 8-7 early in the game after a basket by Ty Hollerman. But Hawes hit a jumper just inside the 3-point line to give the Flyers the lead back and spark a 13-0 run. Hawes and Tyler Bennett both hit 3-pointers during the streak, which made the score 20-8 late in the first quarter.
Ty Nielson’s trey in the second quarter cut it to 34-19, but another big run, this time 11-0, sent home some of the fair-weather fans.
Bennett added 17 points to the effort for Dixie. Plus the junior had three steals. R.J. Wilgar had eight points and eight rebounds. Eleven different roster players scored for the Flyers in the blowout.
Dixie, 17-5 overall and 9-3 in region, finishes in a tie for second with Desert Hills. The Thunder get the second seed by virtue of the tiebreaker (record against next highest team in the standings), so Dixie will hit the road next Friday to battle Payson. The Lions tied for first in Region 12, but lost the No. 1 seed on a coin flip to Richfield.
Payson, 14-9 overall, went 7-1 in its region, lsoing only to Richfield (77-58 just a week ago). The Lions were at the 3A Preview Tournament in Richfield last December and played Region 9’s Cedar and Pine View. Payson beat the Redmen 56-48 and lost to the Panthers 49-42.
Canyon View, which got 14 from Nielson and 12 from Sterling Barnes, finishes the year with an 8-13 record overall, 2-10 in Region 9.
Stats: Dixie 78, CV 48
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