ST. GEORGE — Dominating the glass and making free throws — it’s a formula that’s worked this season for Pine View. Thursday night it came through again as the Lady Panthers overcame a double-digit deficit in the second half to beat Dixie 50-45 and inch ever so close to a playoff spot.

Pretty good for a team that was 0-20 last season and had won a total of six games the past three seasons.

“I don’t know if there is a word to describe it except maybe fulfilling,” said Pine View’s only senior, Amber Archibald. “It means a lot to me and to our whole team, knowing that all our hard work is paying off.”

Archibald said a new year has brought an amazing new attitude. It showed when Dixie 30-20 lead early in the third quarter.

“We just stayed focused,” she said. “We’re not the same team as last year, so we weren’t going to roll over and die like we always did last year when we got down. We just focused in. We really wanted this game and we had to work together as a team and fight back.”

Fight back they did, scoring 10 straight points over a three-plus minute span to tie it at 30-30 with 3:45 left in the third. It was a dogfight the rest of the way, with Pine View taking its first lead on an Archibald basket with 7:13 to go in the fourth quarter.

The two teams traded baskets over the next three minutes, but a huge three-point play by Tayvia Ah Quin made it 42-40 with 4:15 left in the game and gave the Panthers a lead they would never surrender.

“We just kind of are throwing away last year and the years before that and are focusing on hard work,” Ah Quin said. “We believe in ourselves. Why not us? Coach B always says that. I think we just kind of put that in motion and talked about being fearless.”

Ah Quin followed her three-point play with three free throws (she was 6 for 7 from the line in the game) to push the lead to 45-40. Dixie scored the next three points, including two by Tyler Stilson, to cut it to 45-43 with 90 seconds left. But freshman Claire Newby scored on a beautiful pass from Ah Quin to put it to 47-43 with 1:11 to play.

Dixie missed on a 3-pointer at the other end, but Alexa Estridge followed the miss with a putback to cut it to 47-45 with under a minute to go. Breana Moeai was fouled and hit two freebies to make it 49-45 with 35 seconds left. A flurry of Dixie 3-point attempts were off the mark in the game’s closing seconds.

“With these girls, for so many years, they’ve been bad,” PV coach Chris Brinagh said. “They’re not bad girls or basketball players, they just didn’t have that fire, that intensity. Now, they’re starting to get it and they’re starting to play.”

Ah Quin finished with 12 points and Archibald had 10 on “Amber Night,” which replaced Senior Night at PV since Archibald is the only senior on the team. The Panthers shot just 35 percent from the floor in the game (16 for 46), but made 17 of 30 free throws (57 percent) and dominated on the boards, 52-34.

Dixie, which got 21 from Estridge, made 20 of 64 from the floor (31 percent), but managed just 36 percent from the charity stripe (5-14) and missed all 11 3-point attempts. The Flyers did force Pine View into 30 turnovers, but also committed 20 of their own.

Pine View, 6-3 in region and 10-5 overall, remains in a dead heat with Snow Canyon in second place. The two teams are battling for a home playoff game in the first round, which goes to the second-place team. PV is at Desert Hills next Tuesday and then finishes with road games at Canyon View and Cedar.

Dixie, 10-7 overall and 3-6 in region, is off Tuesday night and and battles first-place Cedar next Thursday night. The Flyers may need to win out to make the playoffs.

Stats: Pine_View_vs_Flyers_Jan_29_2015

Snow Canyon 60, Hurricane 57

It’s been three weeks since the streaking Lady Warriors lost a game as SC edged Hurricane for its fifth straight win.

Madi Mooring had 19 points and Shaylee Reed poured in 15 as the Warriors dominated after halftime. Snow Canyon has won 7 of its last 8 games.

Behind the shot-making of London Steglich, the lady Tigers led by as many as nine in the first half. Hurricane settled for a 33-27 lead at intermission.

But out of the locker room, Snow Canyon came alive. Sydnee Bott had a big 3-pointer and Shaylee Reed hit two free throws late in the third quarter to tie the game at 42-42. Mooring then hit a short jumper and a long 3-pointer to start the fourth and put Snow Canyon ahead 47-42.

The Tigers got within one a couple of times in the fourth, including at 58-57 with just a few second remaining. But Mooring hit a pair of free throws to put SC up by three and Hurricane turned the ball over late to seal the deal.

The Warriors won the game at the line, making an impressive 35 of 44 shots, 80 percent as a team. SC, 6-3 in region and 9-10 overall, has a key battle with league-leading Cedar next. The game is Tuesday night at SCHS’s Jungle Gymnasium.

Hurricane, 2-16 and 0-9, has made big improvement lately, battling SC and PV to close games. But the Tigers, who got 19 from Steglich and 13 from Chelsi Cahoon, have lost nine straight. They host Canyon View next Tuesday.

Stats: SC 60, Hurricane 57

Cedar 45, Canyon View 26

The Lady Reds weren’t great on offense, but the defense was stout in their 19-point victory Thursday night.

Courtney Morley had an Andrei Kirilenko-like line in the game, with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Shana Foley chipped in eight points for Cedar, which has won every game its played in the month of January (8-0).

Cedar opened the game with 10 straight points and it took nearly five minutes for the Lady Falcons to get on the board. Haylee Torres finally broke the ice with two free throws, but by the end of the quarter it was 16-4. Cedar led by a 21-10 score at halftime and CV never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

Torres and Abbie Corry had eight each to pace CV. Cedar won the rebounding battle 28-24 and had 15 assists as a team.

The Lady Reds are now 8-0 in region (14-3 overall) and have a two and a half game lead on the field with three and a half games left. Cedar is at Snow Canyon Tuesday night.

Canyon View, 5-13 and 3-5, is at Hurricane Tuesday.

Stats: Cedar 45, Canyon View 26

Region 9	W	L	PS	PA	pct.	W	L	PS	PA	pct.
Cedar	8	0	388	302	1.000	14	3	783	623	.824
Snow Canyon	6	3	493	469	.667	9	10	864	967	.474
Pine View	6	3	442	413	.667	10	5	718	730	.667
Desert Hills	4	4	463	399	.500	10	7	1025	884	.588
Canyon View	3	5	278	368	.375	5	13	682	843	.278
Dixie	3	6	478	486	.333	10	8	891	863	.556
Hurricane	0	9	432	537	.000	2	16	781	959	.111

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