ST. GEORGE – Most of Region 9 is off until after Christmas, but the Hurricane Tigers and Cedar Redmen were happy to get back on the court and head into the four-day UHSAA-imposed moratorium with home victories Tuesday night.

Hurricane 58, Parowan 46

The duo of Josh Parker and Jackson Last have been the model of consistency for the Tigers this year and it was no different on this night. Parker had 20 points and three rebounds and Last had 17 points and five assists in a game that was never really close.

“They are our team leaders and we run a lot of plays for them to get them open looks,” Hurricane coach Todd Langston said. “Our bigs did some good things tonight, too. Jared Frehner and Nate Ben … scored some points and were real active around the basket.”

Hurricane never trailed in the game and went on an 8-0 to break a 4-4 tie early on. Parker had a three-point play and then followed that moments later with a deep 3-pointer to make it 10-4. Last then got free in the lane for a floater to make it 12-4.

Parowan stayed in the game by forcing the Tigers into 20 turnovers. The Tigers led by as many as 13 in the second quarter after a trey by Parker, but a 7-0 run sparked by Nathan Goodman and Ethan Guymon pulled the Rams to within 23-17.

Parowan got within five at 39-34 with 2:18 to go in the third quarter, but Last made a 3-pointer and Sage Borden scored to push the lead back out to 10 and it stayed in that range the rest of the game.

“They were well-coached and were well-disciplined,” Langston said. “The bottom line for us is we need to take better care of the ball. We had 20 turnovers – that’s way too many.”

Hurricane, 6-3, actually shot better from the floor (58 percent) than from the line (57 percent). The Tigers buried 6 of 14 3-pointers and outrebounded the Rams 28-15.

Hurricane will play in the Tri-State Invitational in Las Vegas Dec. 27-29, a tourney featuring four teams from the three states of Utah, Arizona and Nevada. The Tigers will play five games in three days.

Stats: Hurricane 58, Parowan 46

Cedar 65, North Sanpete 59

Parker Haynie had his best day in a Cedar uniform with 18 points and five rebounds to lead the Redmen to the home win and snap a four-game losing streak.

Keenan Nielson added 16 and Ethan Boetcher added 12 for Cedar, which improved to 2-5 on the year. Nielson and Boetcher closed the first quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers to put Cedar ahead 14-7.

The lead ballooned to as much as 13 late in the first half after a basket and three free throws by Haynie.

Cedar led by 23 (49-26) in the third quarter before the Hawks started to stage a rally. North Sanpete outscored Cedar 13-3 to close the period and trailed by a 52-39 count after three.

In the fourth, Justice Green completed a 20-10 run by nailing a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left to make it 62-59. But Mason Fakahua and Nielson combined to make three free throws and ice the game.

Cedar held on by hitting 20 of 26 free throws in the contest – 77 percent. North Sanpete’s rally was comprised mostly of 3-pointers. The Hawks made 9 of 15 from deep.

Cedar is off until Dec. 28, when they’ll host the Steve Hodson Cancer Classic and play three games in three days.

Stats: Cedar 65, North Sanpete 59

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