Region 9 girls basketball: Desert Hills remains undefeated, Pine View routs Crimson

Written by Rich Allen
January 28, 2021
Desert Hills at Canyon View, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 28, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

ST. GEORGE — As the Region 9 girls basketball season started its second half Thursday night, both Desert Hills and Pine View showed why they’re a cut above the rest of the region. Meanwhile, the other two games showed why third place is still anybody’s to take. Here are the scores from Thursday’s action:

Cedar 53, Snow Canyon 48

At Cedar, the Reds used a 17-0 run during the second quarter to take a 25-12 halftime lead over Snow Canyon. That proved to be just enough of a cushion to last throughout the second half, although the Warriors did manager to get within three points during the fourth.

Snow Canyon at Cedar, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 28, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

“We got within three and had a wide-open 3 to tie but missed it,” Snow Canyon head coach Dan Roden said. “We outplayed them for 70% of the game, but that 30% is what killed us.”

Abby Davis, back in Cedar’s lineup for the first time since injuring her thumb during a game two weeks ago, led all scorers with 16 points. She swished back-to-back 3-pointers during Cedar’s second-quarter rally, pushing the Reds lead from two points to eight, 20-12.

Snow Canyon actually outscored Cedar in three of the four periods. However, the Warriors managed just two points during the second quarter, a pair of free throws by Tyler Mooring near the start of the period.

Also for Cedar, starters Braylee Peterson and Grace Morales, who had also missed Tuesday’s home loss to Desert Hills, returned to action and scored 10 and eight points, respectively. 

The Warriors were led by Mooring and Ebony Lealao, who each scored 12.

Cedar improved to 5-3 in region play with the win, while Snow Canyon dropped to 1-7. Next Tuesday, Cedar will host Hurricane while Snow Canyon travels to Pine View.

— written by Jeff Richards

Desert Hills 65, Canyon View 30

At Canyon View, the Falcons managed to stay within striking distance of the Thunder during the first half, as Desert Hills led by just seven points at halftime, 26-19.

Desert Hills at Canyon View, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 28, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The Thunder came on strong during the third quarter, with Enid Viafanua scoring 11 points during a 21-4 run that quarter, including three 3-pointers.

Desert Hills continued to keep the contest out of reach during the fourth, outscoring the Falcons 18-7 down the stretch.

“We came out a little slow,” said Desert Hills assistant coach Laurie Goulding. “We’ve had some injuries and some girls that were maybe not feeling 100%, but they turned it around at halftime and decided to play their game.”

“Enid had a great night out there, and she opened it up for everyone else and did a great job,” Goulding added.

Julia Jacobsen led the Thunder in scoring with 21 points, while Viafanua finished with 17. Point guard Sa’de Turlington added nine points. 

Canyon View had just one player score in double figures, as Harlee Nicoll finished with 11.

Desert Hills improved to 8-0 in region play with the win. The Thunder will next host Crimson Cliffs on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Canyon View saw its three-game winning streak snapped and is currently 3-5 in region play. The Falcons host Dixie on Tuesday.

— written by Jeff Richards

Pine View 83, Crimson Cliffs 30

The Panthers started on a 10-0 run and took 20 of the game’s first 22 points to set an early tone that would maintain across all 32 minutes at Crimson Cliffs. Averi Papa swished a 3-pointer from the top of the arc on a drop pass by Alex Olson to start the scoring just under 30 seconds in. Olson scored her own field goal a few possessions later and Mady Jensen hit a field goal to make it 7-0 before Papa hit a layup and drew the and-one, converting the 3-point play to draw the lead out to double digits just two and a half minutes into the game.

Pine View at Crimson Cliffs, Washington City, Utah, Jan. 28, 2021 | Photo by Aaron Crane, St. George News

Crimson got on the board after Kenadee Richey cleaned up a rebound in the Mustangs’ end and coast-to-coasted it for the layup on the other side right before the 5:00 mark. Pine View went on another double-digit run and Crimson wouldn’t score again until the clock started counting tenths of a second.

“It was a good start,” Pine View head coach Ben Luce said. “We played good D and forced a lot of turnovers early. Great team effort on both sides of the ball again.”

Pine View won the first quarter 20-9 and the Mustangs did not get back within single digits of the lead, as the Panthers took the first nine points of the second quarter as well en route to a 43-15 halftime lead.

Olson led Pine View in scoring with 23 points, while Papa was right behind her with 22. Aly Schmitt also scored in double figures with 15 points for the Panthers.

Crimson Cliffs was led by Cally Smith’s 11 points.

Pine View improves to 13-1 overall and 7-1 in Region 9 play at the halfway mark. It has a solid hold on second place in the region and is just one Desert Hills Thunder loss away from a tie for first. The Panthers host the Snow Canyon Warriors next.

Crimson Cliffs falls to 2-12 and is winless through eight region games. The Mustangs travel to take on the Thunder on Tuesday.

Hurricane 61, Dixie 55

The Flyers nearly fought their way back from a 12-point deficit at halftime on the road, but the comeback bid came up just short at Hurricane.

Dixie trailed by as many as 16 points in the third quarter before slowly chipping away at the Tigers’ lead. The Flyers won the fourth quarter 24-16, the only period in which they outscored the Tigers. But a buzzer-beater 3-pointer by senior Mary Gonzales only got Dixie within six as time expired.

The Flyers took the game’s first four points as freshman center Kealah Faumuina hit a pair of jumpers down low, including one off her own rebound. The momentum would not last, as Hurricane took the next eight points and 10 of 12. After a Haley Chesley 3-pointer from the top of the arc, Hurricane’s patented aggressive defensive resulted in a turnover before the Flyers could escape their own end and an easy layup for Sadie Gilberg to make the score 8-4. Dixie never led again.

Hurricane took the first quarter 12-8 and led 32-20 at the half. The Tigers won a close third quarter 13-11 and head coach Pepper Reddish pulled out of her press as the fourth quarter started.

Chesley scored 38 points and had five rebounds and a pair of steals. She landed seven 3-pointers of 13 total field goals and went 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. Gilberg and Lydia Prince were second on the Tigers with six points each. Prince led the team with six steals and also had six boards. Staples had nine rebounds.

Faumuina led Dixie with 26 points with 11 field goals. Addy Shaffer also hit double digits with 13 points.

Hurricane improves to 4-4 in Region and climbs into a fourth-place tie with Dixie. The Flyers have a slight edge with a 6-8 record overall against Hurricane’s 6-9. They are ranked 11th and 12th, respectively, in the statewide RPI rankings (see standings chart below). Both teams travel to Cedar City this coming Tuesday, when the Tigers will square off against the Cedar Reds and Dixie will play at Canyon View.

Tuesday’s game schedule (Feb. 2)

  • Dixie at Canyon View
  • Snow Canyon at Pine View
  • Hurricane at Cedar
  • Crimson Cliffs at Desert Hills

Region 9 girls basketball standings (as of Jan. 29)

  1. Desert Hills 8-0 (12-2) RPI: 3rd
  2. Pine View 7-1 (13-1) RPI: 1st
  3. Cedar 5-3 (8-7) RPI: 8th
  4. Dixie 4-4 (6-8) RPI: 11th
  5. Hurricane 4-4 (6-9) RPI: 12th
  6. Canyon View 3-5 (6-10) RPI: 14th
  7. Snow Canyon 1-7 (2-12) RPI: 19th
  8. Crimson Cliffs 0-8 (2-12) RPI: 20th

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rich joined St. George News in October 2020. The Colorado native graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver in December 2018, where he was a sports and managing editor at the student publication, The Metropolitan. He worked as a media relations assistant for the minor league baseball club New Orleans Baby Cakes in 2019.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @RAllenSTGNews@STGnews

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