RICHFIELD – The Cedar Redman, Hurricane Tigers, Desert Hills Thunder and Dixie Flyers all took to the hardwood for the first time this season in the 2A-3A preview in Richfield. This is a great place for local colleges to take a look at some of the top talent in 2A and 3A. Dixie St. College had all three coaches in attendance. Snow College had their head coach there as well. Salt Lake Community College also had an assistant at some of the ball games.
The morning started at 10 a.m. with a 2A game between Manti and Grand. Manti won the game 68-47 behind Jamen Millers 18 points and Quinn Nielsen 14 points.
The 11:30 a.m. game was the first of four 3A games in a row. The Cedar Redman took on North Sanpete. The Redman showed why they are ranked No. 4 in 3A, jumping out to a 21-point lead early in the second half. Trent Snow finished the game with 11 points, Snow scored 10 in the first half. Kyle Seely led all scores with 12 points. John Ursua finished with eight points. The Redman play Morgan today at 10:30 a.m.
The 1 p.m. game was the much-anticipated coaching debut of Hurricane Tigers coach Brian Viafanua against Morgan. Coach Viafanua’s squad got off to a sloppy start with 11 first quarter turnovers. Morgan ran a great trapping defense and you could see the football rust on the Tigers.
One Tiger who did not get off to a slow start was Colton Marshall. The Tigers pulled it together in the second and third quarters taking a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter. Morgan called timeout and put the press back on. Morgan finished the game on a 17-2 run to come from behind and win the game 62-56. The Tigers finished the game with 24 turnovers.
Marshall led all scores with 24 points and 14 rebounds; Weston Yardley added nine points and Boston Gubler finished with eight points and nine rebounds. Gubler was in foul trouble most of the game. The Tigers came into the game ranked No. 2 in 3A but with only one week of practice because of football the Tigers finished the game like they started very sloppy. The Tigers also struggled from the free-throw line going 7-15 (46.7%). The Tigers are back in action today at 9 a.m. against Bear River.
The fourth game of the day pitted the Desert Hills Thunder against Bear River. The Thunder came out of the gates running taking a 23-8 first quarter lead. Led by UC Davis bound Tyler Ott and point guard Brandon Simister.
The Thunder showed why they’re ranked No. 1 in the state, winning the game 76-44. Ott led all scores with 20 points and nine rebounds and Simister finished with 13 points, five assists and four steals. The Thunder got hot shooting from Ty Rutledge who went 5-5 from the floor including 3-3 from deep. Rutledge finished with 15 points. The Thunder take on Park City today at noon.
The fifth game of the day was the Dixie Flyers taking on Park City. Dixie had trouble finishing early on only scoring nine first quarter points. The Flyers went into the half trailing by three 19-22. The Flyers got a big second half spark from Deshon Brown who scored nine points in the second half. Brown finished the game with 13 points despite playing most of the second half with an injured wrist. Devin Bennett led the Flyers in scoring with 15 points.
The Flyers outscored Park City 25-17 in the second half. The Flyers take on North Sanpete today at 1:30 p.m.
The sixth game of the day was back to 2A matching up Parowan and North Sevier. Parowan won the game 43-40. Parowan was led by Justin Hulet who made five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. North Sevier had a shot to tie at the buzzer but it rimmed out.
The seventh game of the day was a 7 p.m. tip between South Sevier and North Summit. South Sevier has 2A player of the year Race Parsons. Parson is a big time college recruit receiving interest from Arizona St. Utah St. Dixie St. and many more. Parsons led the No. 1 ranked 2A team to a 59-43 victory. Parsons and Kaden King led the team in scoring with 17 each. Austin Clark added 15 for South Sevier. Keegan McQueen led North Summit with 15 points.
The last game of the night tipped of just before 9 p.m. The game was between host Richfield and Enterprise. Richfield won the game 59-52. Both teams had two players in double figures. Zak Jensen who finished with 15 points led Richfield and Jordan Kemp add 11 points. Justin Prisbrey and Ryan West who had 14 and 13 points respectfully led Enterprise.
3A schedule
Sat. Dec 3
Bear River vs. Hurricane 9 a.m. (at Sevier Valley Center)
Cedar vs. Morgan 10:30 a.m. (at Sevier Valley Center)
Park City vs. Desert Hills noon (at Sevier Valley Center)
North Sanpete vs. Dixie 1:30 p.m. (at Sevier Valley Center)
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