4A state basketball tournament: Scores and schedule

Keegan Munson dunks the ball for No. 4 Desert Hills in its quarterfinal contest against No. 5 Sky View at the Sevier Valley Center, Richfield, Utah, March 1, 2021 | Photo by Rich Allen, St. George News

RICHFIELD — The 4A state basketball playoffs are underway at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield. Eight Region 9 teams are represented across boys and girls teams.

Local teams play in six of Monday’s eight games.

For the bracket of the girls tournament, click here. For the boys bracket, click here. For St. George News’ preview of Monday’s action, click here.

Following is the schedule of events for Region 9 teams and live updates as they happen, with live photos in a gallery at the end of the story:

Game Updates

No. 2 Desert Hills 62, No. 7 Juan Diego 57 (girls): 7:30 p.m.

The Thunder survived two surges from the Soaring Eagle at the beginning of each half to advance to the semifinals.

Juan Diego took 12 of the game’s first 16 points, including seven in a row to go up 9-2 early.

Desert Hills started closing the gap quickly though, getting within five by the end of the first, 21-16. Julia Jacobsen and Enid Vaifanua hit 3-pointers, Sa’de Turlington scored five points and Shailee Bundy scored the Thunder’s first six points of the game.

The second quarter was all Desert Hills. It took the Thunder all but 30 seconds to make up the five-point deficit after Vaifanua hit a layup and Turlington converted a 3-point play. Not content, the Thunder took the next eight points as well to jump out to a 29-21 lead. Juan Diego didn’t score in the second quarter until the 4:05 mark. The teams traded buckets over the remainder of the period to reach halftime with a 35-29 lead for the Thunder.

But the third played out a lot like the first, and Juan Diego found itself with a lead once again at the 2:20 mark. After Jacobsen started the quarter with two points, Mahinetea Tavanae scored eight in a row to tie the game at 37. They traded twos before Kira Rhay drained a 3-pointer that gave the Soaring Eagle its first lead since early in the second quarter.

The game held close from there. Olivia Cluff hit from the post to give Desert Hills a one-point lead entering the fourth quarter. Juan Diego never regained the lead but nipped at the Thunder’s heels until foul bonus. Desert Hills landed all five of their free throws in the fourth to secure the win.

Jacobsen led all scorers with 19 points. Bundy scored 16, Turlington scored 11 and Vaifanua scored 10.

No. 1 Pine View vs. No. 8 Cedar (girls): 5:30 p.m.

Pine View got some revenge for last year’s state championship game, blowing out Cedar.

The Panthers stormed out to a quick 9-0 lead early in the first quarter and that score held until the buzzer. Alex Olson started the scoring with a 3-pointer before Averi Papa scored three straight.

Cedar had its chances to score in the first frame but could not land any shots. Pine View didn’t set a high standard in executing either late in the quarter.

It wouldn’t be until around the 7:00 mark of the second quarter that Braylee Peterson would hit from the right lane on a layup to get Cedar on the board.

Peterson would land a pair of free throws later and another layup at the second-quarter buzzer for six first-half points. Grace Morales hit a jumper to account for Cedar’s only other points, and her shot was immediately nullified by back-to-back treys by Olson.

Olson and Papa both entered halftime with nine points and the Panthers held a 25-8 lead.

Papa got five points within the first minute of the second half on two shots down low and converted the and-one after drawing a foul. She scored nine in the quarter total. Olson added another five points and Pine View took a 39-15 lead into the last eight minutes.

Aly Schmitt dominated garbage time for Pine View, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter. Morales added two more baskets for Cedar to account for it’s four points in the last frame.

Papa finished the game with 20 points. Olson had 14. Peterson led Cedar with six points.

A year ago to the day (Feb. 29, 2020), Cedar topped Pine View in the 2020 championship match.

No. 6 Cedar 64, No. 3 Crimson Cliffs 62 (boys): 2:30 p.m.

The Reds pulled off the come-from-behind upset over a team they’ve gone toe-to-toe with all season.

Cedar trailed by up to 16 points in the first half, as Crimson’s shooters started hot. The Mustangs jumped out to an 8-1 lead and 20-9 by the end of the first quarter. Cedar had only closed the gap by one point at halftime, 37-27.

It knotted the game at 41 in the third on a pair of Gaige Savage free throws. Then, Zab Santana gave the Reds the lead with a 3-pointer, 44-43. Crimson responded by taking the next eight points and led 51-46 at the third intermission.

Cedar stormed out of the gate in the fourth, taking the first 10 points and the lead after a trio of Ty Harrison free throws and a layup by Santana.

The team exchanged leads several times before a more experienced Cedar team used double-bonus free throws to pull away. Trei Rockhill just missed a game-winning 3-pointer for Crimson Cliffs in the final seconds.

No. 7 Ridgeline 62, No. 2 Dixie 60 (OT) (boys): 12:50 p.m.

In the first major upset of the day, the Riverhawks sent the defending champs home in overtime.

The Flyers maintained a double-digit lead into the third quarter, but Ridgeline battled to a 42-39 deficit by the third intermission.

Ridgeline took the lead late in the fourth quarter on a deep three, 55-54. It hit another basket to go up by three before Isaac Finlinson hit the drop-back trey to knot it at 57 with 18 seconds to play and send it to overtime.

The Riverhawks’ success from deep put them up early in the extra period. Carson Forsey drained a 3-pointer from the quarter to knot it late but came up just short on a buzzer-beater attempt for the win.

No. 1 Juan Diego 64, No. 8 Snow Canyon 39 (boys): 11:10 a.m.

Snow Canyon started hot from the 3-point line, but big man Lyman Simmons got into early foul trouble and the Warriors struggled to match the Soaring Eagle in size with him on the bench.

After holding a 17-15 lead at the first intermission, Snow Canyon watched Juan Diego score 13 straight. Isaac Lyon finally got Snow on the board with a 3-pointer at the 2:50 mark, but the play took a lot of stretch passing to get him open. The Warriors only other points in the frame came on a Blake Munson 3 at the buzzer from half court.

Juan Diego led at the half 32-23.

Things didn’t get better from there. The Warriors scored only 22 points across the final three quarters.

No. 4 Desert Hills 63 vs. No. 5 Sky View 43 (boys): 9:30 a.m.

The Thunder cruises to an easy win after pulling away in the second.

The Thunder started with tons of momentum, getting a quick basket from Justin Judkins on the first drive and a dunk from Preston Vandermyde shortly after. Sky View battled back to force a 16-all tie in the first quarter before Mason Landdeck took over in the second quarter. Landdeck scored 11 points in a row and 14 total in the second frame to take Desert Hills to a 37-21 lead at the half.

The margin held there for the remainder of the game, but the second half was not without drama. Landdeck, already with a technical from the first half, got in a shoving match with a Sky View player, leading to a clearing of the benches and an ejection of that player.

Also of note, big man Keegan Munson exited with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter after landing on a Sky View player coming down from a rebound attempt.

Landdeck led the game with 24 points. Munson had 11.

The Thunder will play the winner of the Juan Diego/Snow Canyon contest in the semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

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

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