Region 10 boys basketball: Dixie, Crimson Cliffs win at home, Snow Canyon stays unbeaten

ST. GEORGE — Two teams in Region 10 boys basketball are headed for an early season showdown next week, as action heated up on the hardwood Friday night around St. George.

Dixie and Crimson Cliffs both won at home while Snow Canyon remained unbeaten with a victory at Desert Hills. 

Following are recaps of Friday night’s games:

Dixie 73, Cedar 59

The Flyers and Reds battled in a close first quarter as Dixie took a 19-17 lead after a fast-paced, quickly played start to the game.

But the second quarter was marred by injuries when both teams lost a key contributor for the rest of the contest, and perhaps, for longer than that.

Cedar lost a lot of momentum when senior Ty Harrison, the clutch sixth man on last year’s 4A state champion Reds squad, left the contest with a knee injury.

Dixie hosts Cedar in a Region 10 boys basketball game, St. George, Utah, Jan. 7, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Harrison made two 3-pointers in the first quarter and was leading the team in scoring when he went down. After his injury, Cedar managed just 6 points in the second frame and trailed 34-23 at halftime.

On the other end of the floor, Dixie senior Risko Brooks took an inadvertent knee to the face while defending a layup on the last play of the half and didn’t return.

“Just a good, hard fought game,” Dixie coach Tyler Roberts told St. George News after the buzzer. “Of course, losing Risko is going to be difficult. It’s hard to replace 18, 20 points a game and our leader.”

Roberts added that he feared Brooks “may have broken his face” and will be evaluated Monday to see if he can return to play for Dixie.

The Flyers took control of the game in the third quarter, out-scoring the Reds 25-18. The combination of sophomore center Kyle Lemke and junior guard Grant Carter did most of the damage.

Lemke posted up under the basket and showed a variety of moves close in, while Carter broke down the Reds defense off the dribble and also hit open shots.

Carter scored 16 points for Dixie while Lemke led the Flyers with 20 points.

“I felt like I was playing good,” Lemke said. “We got the momentum, talked about it, worked as a team with all one heartbeat. Just kept it together.”

Cedar’s outstanding senior, Zab Santana, poured in 26 points to lead all scorers and got the Reds within 10 a couple of times in the fourth quarter.

“Zab is too good of a player, you can’t stop him, you can only hope to contain him,” Roberts said. “We tried to make it a little bit more difficult for him, and obviously having Ty go out didn’t help them.”

Senior Aaron Munson contributed 15 points to Cedar’s cause.

But the night belonged to the Flyers, who improved to 10-2 overall, 2-0 in Region 10. The stage is set for next Wednesday night at Dixie, when unbeaten Snow Canyon (14-0, 3-0) comes calling at 7 p.m.

“It will be a good matchup, they’re really good. And we’ll come out strong against them,” Lemke said.

Cedar dropped to 6-7 overall, 0-3 in region play after the defeat and has a bye next Wednesday.

Snow Canyon 53, Desert Hills 28

Over at Desert Hills, the Thunder struggled to score against the taller, defensive-minded Warriors.

Snow Canyon never trailed in the game, leading 12-7 after the first quarter and 22-13 after the second.

Desert Hills hosts Snow Canyon in a Region 10 boys basketball game, St. George, Utah, Jan. 7, 2022 | Photo by Aaron Crane, St. George News

Bowen Hammer continued his solid start to the year and led the Warriors to the win with 17 points, including five 3-pointers.

Hammer sank four of those treys in the first quarter alone, accounting for all of Snow Canyon’s points in the frame.

Lyman Simmons controlled the paint, scoring five field goals and shooting 5-for-5 from the free throw line to tally 15 points for the victors.

Lincoln Holmes once again led the Thunder, posting 10 points in the contest. Eli Allred scored 7 and Boston Holbrook contributed 5 points for Desert Hills, which trailed 40-22 after three quarters of play.

Desert Hills slipped to 4-8 overall, 0-3 in Region 10 with the defeat and next hosts Hurricane Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.

Crimson Cliffs 67, Hurricane 58

Down by one point at halftime, the Mustangs rallied at home with a dominant third quarter then held on to beat the Tigers in a hard-fought game.

Crimson Cliffs jumped out to a 16-9 advantage after the first quarter, but Hurricane came back to take a 27-26 lead at halftime.

Crimson Cliffs hosts Hurricane in a Region 10 boys basketball game, Washington, Utah, Jan. 7, 2022 | Photo by Scott Spencer, St. George News

The Mustangs took control by out-scoring the visitors 22-8 in the third frame.

Crimson Cliffs got 16 points from Jackson McKone in the win. Jordan Eaton and Hudson Hawes each threw in 12 points for the Mustangs and Travis Matthews contributed 11 points.

Meanwhile, Hurricane was paced by Weston Larsen’s 16 points in the defeat. Kruz Gardner netted 15 points for the Tigers and eight different players scored for Hurricane in the tough loss.

Crimson Cliffs upped its overall record to 8-3, including 2-0 in region. The Mustangs host Pine View (6-5, 1-1) Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.

Hurricane saw its record drop to 8-5, 1-2 after the defeat.

Region 10 boys basketball standings (as of Jan. 8)
  1. Snow Canyon, 3-0 (14-0)
  2. Dixie, 2-0 (10-2)
  3. Crimson Cliffs, 2-0 (8-3)
  4. Pine View, 1-1 (6-5)
  5. Hurricane, 1-2 (8-5)
  6. Cedar, 0-3 (6-7)
  7. Desert Hills, 0-3 (4-8)

Next Wednesday’s games:

  • Pine View at Crimson Cliffs, 7:30 p.m.
  • Hurricane at Desert Hills, 7:30 p.m.
  • Snow Canyon at Dixie, 7 p.m.

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!