Region 10 girls basketball: Desert Hills stays in driver’s seat; Hurricane, Cedar also victorious

Written by E. George Goold
February 1, 2022

ST. GEORGE — The Desert Hills High School girls basketball team took a huge step towards finishing unbeaten in Region 10 play Tuesday night in St. George.

The Thunder overcame a one-point halftime deficit with a strong defensive effort in the second half to pull away from visiting Snow Canyon, the No. 2 team in the region.

Meanwhile, Hurricane won big on its home court and Cedar got a comfortable win on the road.

Following are recaps of Tuesday night’s action:

Desert Hills 45, Snow Canyon 34

The Thunder defense held the usually high-scoring Warriors attack to single digit scoring in three of the four quarters of the contest.

Snow Canyon played tough defense right back at the Thunder and it took Desert Hills the first half to get its offense working.

Desert Hills hosts Snow Canyon in a Region 10 girls basketball game, St. George, Utah, Feb. 1, 2022 | Photo by Aaron Crane, St. George News

But then Julia Jacobsen took over and scored eight of her 10 points in the final quarter to help the Thunder secure the win.

Desert Hills countered the Snow Canyon lineup, led by freshman phenom Olivia Hamlin, with a starting group that featured five seniors.

“All five of our starters have played varsity since we were sophomores, so we have that experience over other teams,” Enid Vaifanua, who scored a team-high 16 points for Desert Hills, told St. George News after the game.

Vaifanua came out with the hot hand for Desert Hills, scoring seven of her team’s nine total points in the first quarter.

Hamlin scored 13 of her 18 total points in the first half for Snow Canyon, leading the visitors to a 21-18 lead at the intermission.

But then Vaifanua and teammate Sa’de Turlington held Hamlin to just five points in the second half as the home team rallied.

“She’s really good for a freshman, she’s really hard to shut down,” Vaifanua said. “We just tried to push her to the left and stayed hard. She’s definitely the hardest person I’ve played defense against this whole season.” 

Jacobsen scored through two defenders, then had a rebound and score on the next possession as Desert Hills took the lead 22-21.

Turlington danced through the lane for a nice bucket and Jacobsen sank another shot as Desert Hills led 28-27 going into the final quarter.

The Thunder opened up the fourth frame with an 8-0 run. Alivia Cluff sank a jumper and Hannah Heaton converted an and-1 to key the rush, then Heaton sank a 3-pointer that made it 36-27 and Desert Hills never looked back.

Heaton finished with nine points in the game, all in the second half.

“We know it’s not over. We definitely want to get to state and win that state championship,” Vaifanua said. “We still have a long ways to go so we’re not satisfied yet.”

Sophie Jaster and Natalie Olson scored five points apiece for the Warriors.

Hurricane 67, Crimson Cliffs 38

The Tigers got at least one point scored by 13 different players in the big win at home.

Hurricane hosts Crimson Cliffs in a Region 10 girls basketball game, Hurricane, Utah, Feb. 1, 2022 | Photo by Stan Plewe, St. George News

Hurricane took a 17-7 lead after the first quarter and never looked back, holding the Mustangs to just two points in the second session for a 35-9 lead at halftime.

Morgan Stout sank four 3-pointers for the Tigers and scored 15 points to lead all scorers in the game. Lindy Erickson tallied 11 points for the winners.

Crimson Cliffs came out of the break motivated and won the third quarter 19-15. But the Tigers clamped down in the final frame to pull out the win.

The Mustangs were led by Brooklyn Winget, who scored 12 points. Samiyah Jones was next with six points for Crimson Cliffs.

Cedar 47, Dixie 31

At Dixie, the Cedar Reds and the Dixie Flyers battled to a 19-19 tie at halftime. However, the Reds went on a 13-2 run during the third quarter that enabled them to pull away for good.

Guard Braylee Peterson paced Cedar with a game-high 17 points, while fellow guard Haylee Campbell added 11.

Dixie, which made just 12 points in the second half, was led by sophomore Hali Smith’s 11 points, while guard Emily Tauilili made three 3-pointers to finish with nine points.

Meanwhile, center Kealah Faumuina was held to just six points, all in the second half, about a third of her usual average of 18.1 points per game. 

Region 10 girls basketball standings (as of Feb. 2)
  1. Desert Hills 9-0 (13-4)
  2. Snow Canyon 7-2 (12-6)
  3. Cedar 4-5 (9-8)
  4. Hurricane 4-5 (9-10)
  5. Pine View 3-5 (7-10)
  6. Dixie 2-6 (5-10)
  7. Crimson Cliffs 1-7 (4-13)
Thursday’s games:
  • Hurricane at Desert Hills, 7 p.m.
  • Pine View at Crimson Cliffs, 7 p.m.
  • Snow Canyon at Dixie, 7 p.m.

Updated Feb. 2, 9:30 a.m. to include game coverage video.

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

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric George Goold came to St. George News from southwestern Colorado, where he was a radio news reporter. He has been a journalist for over 20 years in five different states. He graduated with a master's degree in English from Kansas State University and writes nonfiction as well. Goold has been published in Sunstone Magazine and has done multiple public readings about local history. When he has free time, he enjoys chess, movies and dogs.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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