CEDAR CITY – The Cedar Redmen finished the Steve Hodson Cancer Classic with two wins Friday over Stansbury and Eldorado (Nev.), giving CHS a five-game winning streak with just a couple of preseason games left.
In fact, with Cedar’s wins, it was a perfect 7-0 day for Region 9 teams in various tournaments around the state of Utah. Desert Hills also won a pair of games and Dixie, Pine View and Snow Canyon all pulled off victories.
Here’s a look at all of Friday’s action:
Steve Hodson Cancer Classic
Cedar 41, Stansbury 34
Cedar 59, Eldorado (Nev.) 48
Cedar started the Classic with a 2-5 record, but after four games in three days, Cedar is now at 6-5 and on a five-game winning streak.
Redmen head coach Russ Beck was happy to get all four wins in the Cancer Classic.
“I like the fact we’re pulling it together before we get into Region 9 play, because there’s not going to be an easy night with the powers that be down in St. George,” Beck said. “I like our group. I’m very happy to coach them. We’ve got great kids. They’re starting to figure it out, so it’s pretty exciting. I think we can make a ball game every single night.”
Cedar struggled to start the final Classic game as Eldorado jumped out to a 9-5 lead. Beck called timeout with 2:24 left in the first quarter and Eldorado wouldn’t score again until there was less than a minute left in the second quarter.
“[Eldorado] missed shots; Our zone made them take a lot of shots,” Beck said. “I think they were 1 for 17 from the 3-point line at halftime. We were able to gather the rebounds, it put us in transition. The team did a good job at moving the ball and finding the open man when we had those opportunities.”
During that span of defensive dominance, the offense got going too. The Redmen went on a 22-0 run before Eldorado scored five points within the final minute of the second quarter, which put Cedar up 30-14 going into halftime.
“Defensively, we talked a lot more,” Cedar center Mason Fakahua said. “We had a lot better communication. We were letting everyone know where everyone was, their shooters, their high-post, everything. We were just communicating to each other that we need to get work done.”
Cedar’s Keenan Nielson led all scorers with 26 points, including 12 points over that huge run.
“I think, because of our defense, we were able to get stops and run the floor,” Nielson said. “We were able to get out on the break and get easy transition buckets.”
The second half was evenly matched as Eldorado started knocking down shots and keeping Nielson mostly in check. The Sundevils scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t keep Cedar from scoring on the other end to mount the comeback.
Behind Nielson, Fakahua scored 14 points, and Parker Haynie added 12 more for the Redmen.
Cedar also beat Stansbury in a defensive battle early in the morning before the later game against Eldorado.
Once again, Nielson led all scorers with 14 points in that game. Fakahua and Haynie added eight points each. Stansbury was led by Drake Schlappi with 11 points, while Jase Wanlass scored 10 more.
Cedar will next play cross-town rival Canyon View on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Canyon View High School.
“We want to go in there and get a win,” Beck said. “They’ve gotten Cedar three times in a row now, and that seems to be what everyone wants to talk about. We want to make everybody forget about that. They’re going to bring their best game.”
Pine View 72, Waterford 49
Pine View scored 21 points in three of the four quarters to obliterate Waterford 72-49 in the Steve Hodson Cancer Classic.
Pine View’s defense was strong again, except for the second quarter when Waterford dropped 21 points on the Panthers.
The Panthers shot the ball well, hitting 25 of 46 shots overall and 9 of 18 on 3-pointers. Kade Moore made four out of his five attempts from beyond the arc.
Pine View was led by Moore and Dylan Hendrickson with 15 points each, and had four players score in double figures. Trey Farrer scored 14 points, and McKay Lambert added 11 more.
Waterford was led by Jackson Sponaugle with 17 points. Alexander Priskos scored 13 more for the Ravens.
Pine View, 10-2, will play host to Snow Canyon Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. next.
Stats: box-scores-for-waterford-school-male-pine-view-male
Snow Canyon 57, Millard 44
The Warriors relied on big first and third quarters to take down Millard in the Steve Hodson Cancer Classic.
The Eagles couldn’t quite crawl back twice after nearly tying it at the end of the half after being down 18-10 at the end of the first quarter. Snow Canyon scored 18 more points in the third quarter that just outlasted Millard.
Snow Canyon was led by Braden Baker with 14 points, while Bryson Childs scored 11 more. Millard was led by Tyson Aburto with 15 points.
Snow Canyon, 6-5, will start region play in its next game against Pine View at 7 p.m. at Pine View High School Jan. 11.
Riverton Holiday Classic
Dixie 55, Kearns 54
The Cougars scored 99 on Thursday, but the Flyers defense was at its best in the narrow win at Riverton High School.
David Andrew and Eshaya Wada, who had been averaging a combined 33 points a game, were held to 19 and Dixie never allowed Kearns to get its fast break going. The Cougars came into the game averaging 69 points a game.
Meanwhile, the Flyers used a balanced attack to capture the win, with Kaden Elzy and Richard Guymon scoring 12 points each and Ty Curtis chipping in with nine. Sam Stewart had seven points and Kannen Dye and Tanner Cuff scored six each. Cuff’s came on a pair of 3-pointers.
The amazing preseason continues for Dixie, which improves to 12-0 overall. The win also puts the Flyers in the championship game of the Riverton tournament. Dixie will face host Riverton at 3:15 p.m. at RHS for the tourney title. The Flyers won the tourney last season en route to the 3A state championship.
Utah Autism Classic
Desert Hills 63, Judge Memorial 48
Desert Hills 86, Park City 53
Logan Hokanson was 5 of 9 from deep in the two games and also had 10 assists as the Thunder swept a pair of games at Olympus High School Friday.
Hokanson shot well, scoring double figures in both games, but he was not alone. In all, the Thunder had 13 players score in the Park City game and four double-figure scorers in the Judge victory.
In the early game vs. the Bulldogs, the Thunder started out on fire, scoring 35 points in the first half and building a 14-point lead. Hokanson and Tucker Peterson scored 14 each and Peterson added six boards. Jake Mathews and Tanner Turley tossed in 10 points each.
In the later game, Turley racked up 20 points and the red-hot Thunder built a 46-23 halftime advantage. DH made an astounding 21 of 29 two-point shots in the game and also hit 9 of 25 3-pointers for a 55-percent shot total in the game (30 for 54).
Hokanson and Braxton Porter had 10 points each and Desert Hills outrebounded the Miners 33-20.
The Thunder, 9-3, will get some rest and then host Richfield next Friday at the Thunderdome. D-Hills opens region play Jan. 11 with a home game against Cedar.
Stats: box-score-dhhs-jmhs-123016; box-score-dhhs-pchs-123016
Region 9 Preseason records
Dixie 12-0
Pine View 10-2
Desert Hills 9-3
Hurricane 10-4
Cedar 6-5
Snow Canyon 6-5
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