Region 10 boys basketball: Crimson Cliffs, Snow Canyon, Dixie each post double-digit wins

Written by E. George Goold
February 2, 2022

ST. GEORGE — The chase for the Region 10 high school boys basketball championship is in its last couple weeks and three local teams gained ground Wednesday night.

In Hurricane, Crimson Cliffs broke open a close game in the second half and coasted to a comfortable road win.

Elsewhere, Snow Canyon continued to dominate its opponents at home, while Dixie played an all-around consistent game to win big in Cedar City.

Following are recaps of Wednesday night’s action:

Crimson Cliffs 74, Hurricane 61

At Hurricane, the Crimson Cliffs Mustangs rode a wave of momentum to take a 10-point lead early in the third quarter and were never really in jeopardy of losing that lead for the rest of the game.

The Tigers came out strong at home, taking a 15-11 lead after the first quarter. But Crimson Cliffs responded with a big second frame to grab a 31-28 lead at halftime.

“I thought the first half had a little slower pace to it,” Crimson Cliffs coach Kasey Winters told St. George News after the win. “Hurricane did a really good job in the paint in the first half, so that was something we emphasized in the second half.”

Hurricane hosts Crimson Cliffs in a Region 10 boys basketball game, Hurricane, Utah, Feb. 2, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Hudson Hawes erupted for Crimson Cliffs in the second half. The senior scored 11 of his 20 total points in the third quarter, including three 3-pointers.

“I thought the key to the game was how we came out and started the second half,” Winters said. “We jumped on a 10-0 run or a 10-2 run to start the second half, which is kind of where the game stayed for the rest of the night.”

Then, Jordan Eaton helped secure the win for the Mustangs in the fourth quarter after scoring 11 of his game-high 25 points during that frame. 

Winters said he inserted Jackson McKone back into the starting lineup for the Mustangs and the senior responded with 11 points in the contest.

Crimson Cliffs maintained its second-place position in Region 10 standings, currently tied with Dixie with a region record of 6-2. Both squads are chasing No. 1 Snow Canyon and its region-leading mark of 8-1.

“So we’ve got some tough games ahead of us,” Winters said. “We’ve just got to take it one game at a time and hopefully just do what we have to do to win games.”

Snow Canyon 58, Desert Hills 39

The Warriors were all over the Thunder, leaping out to a 13-6 lead after the first quarter and a 27-10 advantage at halftime.

Desert Hills at Snow Canyon, Region 10 boys basketball, St. George, Utah, Feb. 2, 2022 | Photo by Aaron Crane, St. George News

Snow Canyon shot 13-of-14 from the free throw line in the easy home win.

The Big Three for the Warriors – Lyman Simmons, Bowen Hammer and Owen Mackay – scored 12, 11 and 10 points respectively for the winners. The trio also combined for eight rebounds.

Six other Snow Canyon players scored in the contest, which the Warriors led 52-24 going into the fourth quarter.

Desert Hills countered with a steady long-range attack, sinking six 3-pointers in the game.

Eli Allred sank two of those 3-pointers and led the Thunder with 14 points. Lincoln Holmes also netted two treys and finished with 10 points in the game.

While Snow Canyon remained atop the Region 10 standings, Desert Hills stayed at the bottom with its 1-8 mark in region play.

Dixie 64, Cedar 40

At Cedar, the visiting Flyers got the jump on the Reds, opening up a 12-3 lead by the end of the first quarter.

The score was still 2-2 four minutes into the contest, and with just over a minute left in the first quarter, Dixie had a 6-2 lead. The Flyers then hit back-to-back 3-pointers – the first by Jordan Roberts and the second by Cam Dyer from the corner baseline at the buzzer – to put the Flyers up by nine.

“We have guards that are really good and they can shoot,” said Dixie coach Tyler Roberts after the game. “I just gave them all the green light and said if you’re open, you’ve got to shoot it.”

Dixie at Cedar, Region 10 boys basketball, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 2, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Roberts said he was especially pleased with how the Flyers played at the beginning of the contest, which helped set the tone for the evening.

“Tonight, our biggest thing was we haven’t had good starts, and we had a good start,” he said. “That’s what we focused on all week. It helps us settle in, so the other team’s got to come out and guard us. We were able to execute our half-court sets, as well as pushing it in transition.”

The Flyers went on to take a 32-15 halftime lead. Cedar did stage a brief rally in the third quarter, at one point turning a 21-point deficit to just 10 points, with Reds guard Stockton Albrecht making three layups in a row at one point. 

However, the Reds couldn’t sustain the rally, and Dixie continued to pad its lead down the stretch, eventually winning by 24. The Flyers converted 90% of their free throws during the game (18-of-20), while Cedar shot just 37.5% from the line (6-of-16).

Kyle Lemke led Dixie with 18 points, mostly on inside shots, while Roberts added 11 and Dyer made nine.

Seniors Zab Santana and Aaron Munson were Cedar’s leading scorers, making 15 and 11 points, respectively. They were among the six Cedar High seniors who were honored before the game, the Reds’ last home regular-season contest.

— written by Jeff Richards

Region 10 boys basketball standings (as of Feb. 3)

  1. Snow Canyon, 8-1 (18-1).
  2. Dixie, 6-2 (14-4).
  3. Crimson Cliffs, 6-2 (12-5).
  4. Cedar, 4-5 (9-9).
  5. Hurricane, 3-6 (10-9).
  6. Pine View, 2-6 (7-10).
  7. Desert Hills, 1-8 (8-13).

Friday’s games

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

Updated Feb. 3, 9:35 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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