ST. GEORGE – Five out of six Region 9 teams were in action Friday evening, four of those teams playing in the Coach Walker Memorial Holiday Classic. Cedar was battling Canyon View in the first go-round for that heated rivalry. Here’s a look at the action:

Dixie 64, Manti 57

The Flyers rushed out to a big lead early in the game, but the scrappy Templars didn’t quit.

Dixie led by a dozen at the half (31-19), but Manti came out fired up after halftime and chipped the lead down to just four midway through the third quarter. By the end of the third, the Flyers were clinging to a 44-39 advantage.

The teams traded baskets the rest of the way, with Manti never getting closer than four. Brothers Korbyn and Kaden Elzy helped keep the Templars at bay with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Dixie actually had four players in double figures. Richard Guymon had 10 points and Sam Stewart, the hero from Thursday’s two-point win over Viewmont, also scored 10. Stewart and Kaden Elzy each hit a 3-pointer, as did Solo Labrum.

The win streak continues to mount for the defending 3A champion Flyers (8-0), who haven’t lost a basketball game since a two-point defeat last Jan. 27 against Cedar. Since then, Dixie has won 17 straight.

Manti, 4-4, was led in scoring by Dillon Wathen, who had 15 points, and Mac Stevens, who had 12.

Dixie plays Ridgeline at 1 p.m. Saturday at Pine View Middle School in the final round of the Walker Classic. Manti will battle Desert Hills at 2:30 p.m. at Pine View High School.

Maple Mountain 50, Desert Hills 49

After a poor shooting night in a close loss Thursday night. the Thunder shot the ball much better Friday. Problem is, Desert Hills couldn’t hang onto the ball in the close loss.

Maple Mountain’s Brad Bird hit one free throw with 2.3 seconds left and Desert Hills failed to get a shot off at the buzzer as the Thunder dropped to 5-2 on the season.

Logan Hokanson had tied the game with 17.3 seconds left by making three free throws after getting fouled on a 3-pointer attempt. Maple Mountain worked the clock and the ball and Bird drew a controversial foul call on the baseline as he fell to the ground.

“That call could have gone either way,” DH coach Wade Turley said. “But we shouldn’t have been in that position. If we take care of the ball … and we hit our free throws, we win the game.”

The Thunder turned the ball over 14 times and made just 3 of 7 free throws in the fourth before Hokanson’s late freebies.

Desert Hills started the season 5-0, but has lost two straight now despite starting this game on fire. DH hit five 3-pointers in the first quarter and had a 20-8 lead after eight minutes. The Golden Eagles started a comeback with two quick buckets by Parker Christensen to open the second period.

The Thunder still led 25-15 with five minutes to go in the half after a trey by Cam Clayton, but the well went dry for a time for DH. Maple Mountain scored the next nine points, starting with a 3-pointer by Christensen and ending with a buzzer-beating tip-in by Dawson Beutler, making it 25-24 at the half.

Again, the Thunder forged ahead, taking a 30-26 lead with 5:25 to go in the third quarter. And once again, the scoring stopped for D-Hills. MMHS didn’t allow a point for the rest of the period and took a 33-30 lead into the fourth.

Desert Hills woke up in the fourth quarter, pushing ahead to a 43-37 lead with five minutes left on a basket by Clayton. But turnovers spelled doom for DH, with the Eagles ending the game on a 13-6 run.

The Thunder will face off against Manti at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Pine View High School to close out the Coach Walker Classic. The Golden Eagles will conclude the tourney with a 2:30 p.m. Saturday game against Hurricane at Pine View Middle School.

Stats: box-score-mmhs-dhhs-121616

Viewmont 65, Pine View 48

The Vikings came out on fire, hitting five 3-pointers in the first quarter and seven in the first half. Viewmont finished with 10 treys and never trailed in the basketball game after starting with a 10-2 run.

“We knew they were going to come out fired up and firing 3-pointers,” Pine View coach Ryan Eves said. “We got in that hole early and couldn’t catch them. I thought we showed a lot of fatigue late in the game.”

Pine View was playing in its seventh game in the last 11 days and seemed tired.

The Vikings led 20-10 after one quarter and pushed the lead all the way out to 36-16 late in the second. A three-point play by Trey Farrer cut it to 36-19 at the half.

The Panthers came out of halftime with a lot of energy and managed to put together a 9-0 run to cut it to 36-28 with 4:58 left in the third. McKay Lambert hit a pair of 3-pointers in the run and Viewmont didn’t score for nearly five minutes in the third. But Spencer Gasser hit a shot in the lane to uncork the basket for VHS and finished the quarter on a 9-2 run to push the lead back to 15 at 45-30.

In the fourth, Pine View made one last push and got the lead down to 12. But the Vikings hit their last five free throws to keep the Panthers at bay.

Pine View shot just 15 of 48 from the floor, 31 percent, and lost the battle of the boards at 37-31. Pine View also had 10 turnovers to Viewmont’s five.

Farrer had 17 points and seven boards to lead PV. Lambert finished with 15 and nine. No other Pine View player scored more than four points.

For Viewmont, Lewis Johnson had 18 points (three treys) and Josh Mordue scored 14.

Pine View, 7-2, has lost two straight. The Panthers are off the rest of the weekend and don’t play again until Dec. 28 with a matchup against Spanish Fork in the Steve Hodson Cancer Classic in Cedar City.

Viewmont, 5-3, plays its final Coach Walker Classic game Saturday with a 1 p.m. game against Snow Canyon at Pine View High School.

Stats: viewmont-vs-pine-view-final-box

Ridgeline 66, Snow Canyon 43

The Riverhawks were relentless in their shooting and their defense, with University of Utah commit Jaxon Brenchley scoring 18 points and Theron Wallantine pouring in 16 more in the blowout win.

The Warriors fought back at times, keeping it to an 8-7 game five minutes in. But Ridgeline closed the first quarter on a 12-4 run, with Brenchley hitting a trey and getting a steal and a layup in the run.

It was a 24-17 game in the second period when Wallantine hit a trey and a mid-range jumper to push the lead to double digits and Snow Canyon would get no closer than nine the rest of the game.

“We played well in spurts, for two or three minutes at a time,” SC coach Jamison Sorenson said. “That’s kind of been our story the last four games. We’ll look really, really good for a little while, and then we give up a 3 and a couple of layups and find ourselves in a hole. That was the story tonight, too.”

With an early Saturday game, Sorenson pulled his starters after three quarters and with the Riverhawks ahead 51-33. Braden Baker led the way with 11 points, but Cade Thorkelson came off the bench to score nine points and sophomore Joey Robertson, a starter in the post, scored eight points on 4 of 6 shooting.

“My sophomore, Joey, came out and played well in the third quarter,” Sorenson said. “He came out and banged inside and hit a couple of nice little baby hooks. And another thing we did was cut down on turnovers tonight. I was happy about that.”

The Warriors only managed 30 percent shooting in the game, making 13 of 42 shots, including 5 of 17 on 3-pointers. SC made 10 of 16 from the line.

Snow Canyon, 3-4, has dropped four in a row after starting the year 3-0. Offense has been the real struggle. The Warriors are averaging just 47 points a game in the four losses after scoring 62 points a game in the three wins.

Snow Canyon plays at 1 p.m. Saturday against Viewmont at Pine View High School in the final day of the Coach Walker Classic.

Ridgeline, 6-2, will battle Dixie at 1 p.m. at Pine View Middle School.

Stats: snow-canyo-ridgeline-12_16_16

Canyon View 58, Cedar 44

The Falcons owned the second half, outscoring the Redmen 38-22 after intermission.

Big man Porter Miller stepped out and hit four 3-pointers in the second half and Brantzen Blackner was good as always, scoring 14 for the Falcons. Abe Huxford hit two 3-pointers and had 10 points.

Keenan Nielson had 17 points, including a couple of 3-pointers and Mason Fakahua had 14 for the Redmen, who have lost four straight and drop to 1-5 on the season. Parker Haynie had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Cedar.

The Redmen next play on Tuesday as North Sanpete visits Cedar City with a 7 p.m. tipoff. Cedar will also host the Steve Hodson Cancer Classic after Christmas.

Canyon View, 4-6, has played all six Region 9 teams, going 2-4 against its former (and future) region mates. The Falcons beat Cedar and Snow Canyon and lost to the other four teams. Cedar and Canyon View will play again, on Jan. 4, at CVHS.

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