Region 9 boys basketball: Pine View gets huge home win; Desert Hills, Crimson Cliffs also triumphant

Written by E. George Goold
January 10, 2024

ST. GEORGE — Two Region 9 boys basketball teams defended their home courts on Wednesday night and came away with Ws while one other local team won big on the road.

Pine View held on to win the game of the night when a last-second shot by Snow Canyon fell short in the Pit, moving the Panthers to 2-0 in the region.

Meanwhile, Jackson Holman and the rest of Desert Hills offense caught fire in the second half to win in the Thunderdome, and Crimson Cliffs used a monster quarter to fuel a road win in Cedar City.

Dixie had the night off after losing a hard-fought 62-59 decision at Wasatch Academy Tuesday night. The Flyers are 11-3 overall and 2-0 in Region 9.

Pine View 61, Snow Canyon 58

Snow Canyon’s Owen Mackay (24) rebounds against Pine View in a Region 9 boys basketball game, St. George, Utah, Jan. 10, 2023 | Photo by Aaron Crane, St. George News

The visiting Warriors won the first and fourth quarters, but the Panthers found enough room in between to eke out a thrilling home victory after Snow Canyon’s last-second heave just missed.

Nash Schroeder maintained his position atop the Region 9 scorers list, pouring in 29 points for the winners. Fellow senior playmaker Griffen Shepherd sank three 3-pointers and contributed 20 points for Pine View.

Snow Canyon’s senior standout and Utah Tech-commit Owen Mackay was hounded all night by the Panthers and had to put up some tough shots. He still managed 20 points to lead the Warriors in the setback.

Snow Canyon (7-5, 1-1) took it to the Panthers at the tip-off and led 18-17 after the first quarter.

Pine View (10-3, 2-0) recovered with a strong second quarter and took a 32-27 edge into the intermission. The home team upped its advantage to 44-37 going into the final session held on to win.

Desert Hills 70, Hurricane 52

The game was close in the first half as both squads struggled to score against physical defenses.

Desert Hills (9-5, 2-1) maintained a slim 16-13 advantage after the first quarter and upped its lead to 34-30 at halftime.

“Trying to be more physical and not getting pushed around,” Desert Hills senior Jackson Holman told St. George News about the defensive adjustments the Thunder made at halftime.

“For me and the whole team, we kind of got pushed around and bullied in that first half,” he added. “And it just got more physical after that.”

Thunder defenders squeezed Tiger shooters in the third quarter and limited the visitors to just four points in the session. Hurricane trailed 46-34 going into the final quarter and the hole was simply too deep to crawl out of.

Desert Hills senior Eli Allred drives against Hurricane in a Region 9 boys basketball game, St. George, Utah, Jan. 10, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

While the Tigers struggled to find the basket in the third quarter, Holman and Eli Allred ignited the Thunder’s 3-point attack and the home team never looked back.

Holman was 5-of-7 shooting the 3-ball and finished with 19 points. Allred was right next to him, hitting 3-of-5 treys on way to also scoring 19 points for the winners.

“We shoot it pretty well,” Holman said. “So if they’re going down, we’re going to be hard to beat.”

Mason Rasmussen sank a 3-pointer and finished with eight points for the winners. Ben Chase canned a 3-pointer and netted 11 points in the win.

The Thunder finished 10-of-22 behind the arc as a team.

Hurricane (5-9, 0-3) was led by RJ Hurst, whose team-high 15 points came off of five 3-pointers.

Houston Homer finished with 10 points, Calan Hughes scored eight and Quinn Gubler sank a 3 and finished with seven points for the Tigers.

“We feel pretty good. I think we’re trending in the right direction,” Holman said. “We got some tough games coming up but I think our guys can get it done.”

Crimson Cliffs 76, Cedar 51

Cedar’s JT Jeter drives against Crimson Cliffs in a Region 9 boys basketball game, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 10, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, Cedar City News / St. George News

The Mustangs (6-7, 1-2) overcame a sluggish first half with an explosive third-quarter surge that put them ahead for good.

Cedar started strong, building an 18-10 first-quarter lead, including three 3-pointers. Guard Easton Albrecht added a pair of treys in the second quarter and the Reds led 31-25 at the halftime break.

Crimson scored the first 10 points of the third quarter, part of a 20-3 run that swung the momentum completely in the Mustangs’ favor. Many of Crimson’s points during the rally came off defensive takeaways.

“Our guys were dialed in,” Crimson coach Scott Murdock said. “They started hitting shots.”

Crimson Cliffs center Sean Felts scored nine of his game-high 26 points during the third period, then added nine more in the fourth as the Mustangs extended their lead to as many as 30.

Also scoring in double figures for Crimson were Travis Murdock, who added 16 points, and Drake Carroll, who contributed 11.

Cedar made three more 3-pointers in the fourth to finish with nine treys as a team. The Reds also made 8-of-10 free throws, while Crimson was 9-of-15 from the line.

Albrecht led the Reds in scoring with 15 points, while Landon Kreitzer added 11.

– written by Jeff Richards

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, 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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