ST. GEORGE — While frontrunner Snow Canyon leads the pack, a couple other Region 10 girls basketball teams are right on the Warriors’ heels.

Dixie won a big road game, Snow Canyon continued its region dominance with a convincing road win and Pine View found the win it was looking for at home during a busy night of action on the hardwood around St. George Tuesday night.

Following are recaps of Tuesday night’s action, followed by the three contests played last Thursday, Jan. 12:

Dixie 48, Desert Hills 43

Dixie got a win it has been working towards for a long time.

The Flyers held on to beat Desert Hills 48-43 behind a stingy defensive effort in the Thunderdome. 

The evenly matched teams battled on every possession and for every loose ball. 

Desert Hills edged to an 11-9 lead after the first quarter, but Dixie answered back to take a 23-19 advantage at halftime.

The Flyers clung to a 33-31 lead entering the fourth quarter, then they got just enough clutch baskets to withstand the Thunder’s final push.

“We’re just happy to come in their place and get a W,” Dixie coach Coty Bundy told St. George News after the win. “It was a good victory. We haven’t won on this floor for a very long time and we’ve had a lot of close calls. But today the girls finally got it done with their defense.”

That defense faced a formidable challenge from Hannah Heaton. The Desert Hills junior hit shots from all over the floor, sinking two 3-pointers, shooting a perfect 4-of-4 at the foul line and pouring in 23 points. 

Heaton was matched shot-for-shot by Dixie junior Kealah Faumuina. The big post player tied for the game-high with 23 points, sinking one 3-ball and making 4-of-6 foul shots.

Those two players, Heaton and Faumuina, accounted for slightly more than half of all the total points scored in the contest. 

Hali Smith contributed 10 points to Dixie’s win. The Flyers improved to 9-5 overall and is tied for second in Region 10 at 3-1.

Kaitlyn Andrus sank three 3-pointers and Jacie Riding had two 3’s for Desert Hills, which stayed in the game behind eight team 3-pointers. The Thunder slipped to 7-7 overall and are tied for second in Region 10 at 3-1 after the setback.

Dixie next hosts Cedar at 7 p.m. Thursday while Desert Hills will stay at home, facing Snow Canyon at 7 p.m.

Pine View 49, Crimson Cliffs 41

At Pine View, the Panthers withstood a late rally by Crimson Cliffs to defeat the Mustangs for their first region victory.

After a bit of a slow start, Pine View managed to build a five-point lead in the first quarter, which ended with the Panthers ahead 13-8. They extended that lead slightly in the second period, taking a 28-20 halftime lead.

The third quarter was Pine View’s highest scoring period, as the Panthers outscored the Mustangs 18-7, extending their lead by as many as 20 points.

That gave Pine View enough of a cushion to make it through the final eight minutes of the game and still win, despite scoring just three points in the fourth quarter.

Finishing in double figures for the Panthers were Avery Gustin, who made 12 points, and Ellie Norton, who scored 10.

Alyssa Whittaker led Crimson Cliffs with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Summer Adams added eight points.

Hurricane next hosts Pine View on Thursday, while Crimson has a bye.

Snow Canyon 67, Hurricane 42

At Hurricane, the Snow Canyon Warriors stayed unbeaten in region play with a convincing win over the Tigers.

At the end of a low-scoring first quarter, Snow Canyon led by just one point, 8-7.

However, the Warriors’ offense came alive during the second quarter as Natalie Olson scored 11 of her 14 points during that period to help Snow Canyon post a 28-17 halftime lead.

“We had a sluggish first quarter with too many turnovers,” said Snow Canyon head coach Dan Roden, adding, “But we got in a much better rhythm after that.”

Leading the way for Snow Canyon was guard Olivia Hamlin, who scored 19 points. Also finishing in double figures were Kelly Howard with 11 points and Joey Jensen with 10.

“That was the most balanced we’ve been all year in scoring, with four girls in double figures,” Roden added.

Addison Crandall led the Tigers with 17 points, including 7-of-8 free throws.

Snow Canyon next plays at Desert Hills on Thursday evening, while Hurricane is scheduled to host Pine View that same evening, at 7 p.m.

Last Thursday’s games 

Cedar 44, Pine View 4o

At Pine View, the Cedar Reds outscored the Panthers 20-8 during the fourth quarter to come away with their second region win.

Pine View led 19-12 at halftime and 32-24 after three quarters, but the Reds began to chip away at the deficit during the fourth.

Senior Kasia Davis made a 3-point shot for Cedar with just under one minute left to give the Reds a 42-40 lead. Then, Cedar sophomore Kenize Bird converted a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left to ice the comeback win.

Cedar head coach Corry Nielsen called the hard-fought battle “a typical region game.”

“Every region game will be a possession game,” he said. “Both teams played really hard. It came down to the final minute, and it could have gone either way.”

Cedar’s Annalyse Shimada led all scorers with 14 points, while Kiara Hansen added 11.

Leading Pine View in scoring was Ellie Norton with 9 points, with Avery Gustin adding 8.

— written by Jeff Richards

Hurricane 55, Crimson Cliffs 38

The Tigers took command early against the Mustangs on the road, leading 17-10 after the first quarter. Hurricane upped its advantage to 37-19 at halftime and Crimson was not able to get back into the game.

Hurricane was led by three players in double digit scoring, led by Addison Crandall’s 14-point night. Ana Larsen and Nizhoni Dominguez scored 10 points apiece in the winning cause.

Meanwhile Raylee Ross sank two 3-pointers and scored 12 points to pace the Mustangs. Alyssa Whittaker posted 10 points and grabbed four rebounds for Crimson.

Snow Canyon 60, Dixie 38

The Warriors did not let the Flyers get comfortable, taking a 29-18 lead into halftime and then dominating the second half.

Snow Canyon star Olivia Hamlin went off for 24 points in the win. She also had three rebounds, three assists and five steals in a busy night.

Natalie Olson complemented Hamlin with 14 points and Kelly Howard netted 10 for the winners.

Dixie did not go to the foul line a single time in the setback. Snow Canyon finished 10-of-14 from the charity stripe.

Kealah Faumuina scored 14 points to go along with six rebounds and three steals for Dixie. Averi Gledhill posted a double-double in defeat with her 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Region 10 girls basketball standings, as of Jan. 18

1. Snow Canyon 5-0 (10-5 overall)
2. Dixie 3-1 (9-5)
3. Desert Hills 3-1 (7-7)
4. Cedar 2-2 (2-10)
5. Pine View 1-3 (5-10)
6. Hurricane 1-3 (2-9)
7. Crimson Cliffs 0-5 (1-9)

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