Three teams fall at Walker Classic, but Dixie saves the day

Pine View vs. Roy, Boys Basketball, St. George, UT, Dec. 15, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – The day wasn’t a total wash for Region 9 teams … but almost.

Dixie won the late game after watching its region mates go down 1-2-3 earlier in the day. Hurricane got overwhelmed late by Manti, Desert Hills couldn’t get anything going against Alta and Pine View found its offense, but lost its defense against Roy.

Away from the Burns Arena, there were two other Region 9 teams in action. Cedar got a road win at North Sanpete, but Canyon View got blasted by South Sevier. Here’s a look at the day’s action:

Coach Walker Classic

Roy 70, Pine View 63

The Panthers lost their fourth straight game, but this one was competitive at least.

After suffering two straight blowout defeats, Pine View started poorly once again, allowing the Royals to score the first 10 points of the game. Jack O’Donnell finally got the Panthers on the board with a 3-pointer and Hunter Moore added a trey as well in the first, but Roy cruised out to a 16-6 advantage when Ben McBride converted on a three-point play just before the quarter break.

Pine View’s Tayler Tobler (1), Pine View vs. Roy, Boys Basketball, St. George, UT, Dec. 15, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

The Panthers rallied in the second period, outscoring the Royals 27-21. It seemed PV had finally found its offense once again. Tayler Tobler scored 16 in the quarter and the Panthers had the momentum heading to the second half.

Unfortunately, Roy had Alex Lamb. The senior guard scored 18 points, including three 3-pointers, to help keep Pine View at bay.

The Panthers cut the Roy lead to 47-44 at the end of the third quarter, thanks in part to a seven-point quarter by O’Donnell. But he fouled out with two minutes left in the game and the Royals ahead by five and Pine View would get no closer.

Tobler finished with 23 points and O’Donnell added 16. The Royals, 2-2 on the year, made 22 of 33 free throws to hang on for the win. Roy also made 8 of 15 3-pointers in the game and were 20 for 38 overall from the floor. Turnovers also killed Pine View, committing 21 to just 12 for Roy.

The Panthers, 4-4, play Saturday at 2 p.m. against Fremont in the Burns Arena on the final day of the Coach Walker Classic.

Dixie 54, Logan 51

The Grizzlies led most of the first half and by as many as six points, but a strong run at the end of the first half and a strong run at the end of the game helped the Flyers prevail in an intense playoff atmosphere-type game.

“This is exactly the kind of competition we expect being in 4A now,” Dixie coach Ryan Cuff said. “Logan’s a very good, very talented basketball team. But we’re ready. A few years ago, we weren’t ready for 4A, but now we are.”

The Flyers found themselves behind by four at 49-45 with 2:55 left in the game. A pair of turnovers by Logan led to three made free throws by Payton Wilgar that brought Dixie to within 49-48. After yet another bad pass by the Grizzlies, Coach Cuff turned to his son, junior forward Tanner Cuff, for a big play.

File photo of Dixie’s Tanner Cuff (3), Dixie vs. Salem Hills, Boys Basketball, St. George, UT, Dec. 8, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

The 6-foot-5 Cuff backed his man down and nailed a hook shoot to put the Flyers ahead 50-49 with 1:40 left to play.

Logan grabbed the lead back when forward Charlie Jensen rebounded a miss by Anthony McDade and was fouled. He made two free throws with 1:28 on the clock.

Dixie then worked the clock down under a minute and took a timeout. Out of the huddle, Cuff backed his man down again. But this time, instead of a hook shot, Cuff whipped the ball into the corner, where a wide open Brody Henderson nailed a 3-pointer to make it 53-51 with 54 seconds left on the clock.

“We knew they would double-team me and it was supposed to go to the other post on a dive down, but they had it covered,” Tanner Cuff said. “But I saw Brody was open and I knew he’d make that shot.”

Logan turned the ball over twice and missed one shot in the final minute, with Carson Bottema hitting one free throw to reach the final score.

The biggest issue for the Flyers in the game was free throw shooting. Dixie may have won the game by eight or more had they been better at the line. Dixie ended up making just 13 of 27 shots from the charity stripe, a miserable 48 percent.

“We shot a lot of them, I am happy about that,” Coach Cuff said. “But we’ve definitely got to get better at the line.”

Bottema led Dixie with 12 points, while Tanner Cuff had 10. Dixie had eight different players score in the contest, including Jacob Barben, who has returned from a broken collarbone suffered at the end of the football season. Barben had four points.

Dixie improves to 6-0 on the season and will take some time off before competing in the Riverton Holiday Classic Dec. 27-30 in Salt Lake County.

Manti 58, Hurricane 44

The Tigers dominated the first half, forging a 23-14 lead in the opening two quarters. But the Templars dominated the second half by outscoring Hurricane 44-21, including a 24-7 edge in the fourth quarter.

Hurricane was up by 13 early in the second half, building a 27-14 lead after a couple of free throws by Jackson Last early in the quarter.

But Matt Nelson was the key for Manti. The senior shooting guard was lights out from deep, hitting four 3-pointers in the game. One of his treys helped Manti outscore Hurricane 20-10 the rest of the third.

But the real damage came in the fourth. Tanner Rasmussen hit a trey, then a jumper to make it 39-37 for the Templars just one minute into the fourth quarter. Nelson then hit back-to-back buckets after Hurricane turnovers to make it 43-37.

A free throw by Russell Neild momentarily stopped the bleeding for Hurricane, but Nelson and the Templars then scored nine straight points to make it 52-38 with under four minutes to play.

Nelson finished with 25 points as the Templars (5-2) hit 21 of 42 shots in the game, including 6 for 14 from beyond the arc.

Last had 17 for Hurricane, which fell to 1-3. He also had 11 rebounds, while Neild ended up with 17 points and six boards.

The Tigers finish their Coach Walker Classic experience with a 9:30 a.m. game against 5A Roy at Burns Arena.

Alta 48, Desert Hills 37

With smooth-shooting Tucker Peterson out with an injured wrist and Tyler Marz having an off night, the Thunder struggled to put the proverbial biscuit in the basket against the 5A Hawks Friday afternoon.

Desert Hills managed just 14 points in the first two quarters and had a double-digit deficit at halftime at 27-14.

Things started to look up in the third quarter as Trevin Lindstrom hit a couple of treys and Marz scored his only basket of the game to help bring the Thunder within three of Alta.

But Hawks guards Taylor Moore and Indy Hansen heated up and pushed the advantage back out to 36-28 after three quarters. DH kept the Hawks within striking distance, but never could make a serious run in the game.

Lindstrom finished with 12 points, the only Desert Hills player in double digits. Tyler Webber added nine points, six rebounds and four steals.

It’s the first loss of the season for Desert Hills (4-1), with a tough matchup against 5A Maple Mountain set for 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Burns Arena.

Cedar 58, North Sanpete 50

The Redmen pushed their record over .500 at 4-3 with the road win over the Hawks.

Dallin Peterson made four 3-pointers in the game and had 18 points, but the real key was the Cedar defense, which allowed just four points in the first quarter and 16 the entire first half.

Treyton Tibbs also made four treys for Cedar, which led 30-16 at intermission. The Redmen had nine 3-pointers in the game and were also solid at the free throw line, making 19 of 24 (79 percent).

Peterson has scored in double-digits in Cedar’s last six games and is averaging 14 points a game.

Cedar will open Region 9 play next Wednesday with a home game against the team picked by coaches and media to win the region, Desert Hills. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.

South Sevier 93, Canyon View 64

One of the adages in high school basketball in Utah right now is, “Don’t get in a running game against South Sevier.”

Canyon View found out why that saying came about as the Rams ran the Falcons off the court. South Sevier scored at least 21 points in each of the game’s four quarters in racing past Canyon View. Five SS players scored at least 18 points, led by Caleb Barton, who had 26 points and seven assists.

Brantzen Blackner continued his stellar senior season by scoring 31 points, including four 3-pointers. Joey Lambeth chipped in 13 for the Falcons. who dropped to 2-6 on the year.

The Rams improved to 5-1 and have beaten two Region 9 teams (they defeated Hurricane at the Central Utah Preview, 52-46).

Canyon View’s next action will be against that Hurricane team next Wednesday night in both teams’ region opener.

Coach Walker Memorial Holiday Classic Schedule/Results (@ DSU’s Burns Arena)
THURSDAY
Snow Canyon 58, Manti 56
Hurricane 61, Uintah 37
Dixie 56, Maple Mountain 35
Green Canyon 71, Roy 64
Logan 57, Pine View 40 (@ PVHS)
Fremont 59, Alta 54

FRIDAY
Green Canyon 82, Uintah 51
Manti 58, Hurricane 44
Alta 48, Desert Hills 37
Roy 70, Pine View 63
Dixie 54, Logan 51
Fremont 72, Maple Mountain 50

SATURDAY
8 a.m. – Green Canyon vs. Manti
9:30 a.m. – Hurricane vs. Roy
11 a.m. – Snow Canyon vs. Uintah
12:30 p.m. – Logan vs. Alta
2 p.m. – Pine View vs. Fremont (SportsRadio 97.7 FM)
3:30 p.m. – Desert Hills vs. Maple Mountain (SportsRadio 97.7 FM)

Region 9 Preseason Records
Dixie  6-0
Desert Hills  4-1
Cedar  4-3
Pine View 4-4
Snow Canyon  3-6
Canyon View  2-6
Hurricane 1-3

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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