ST. GEORGE – With just three games left in the regular season heading into Thursday night’s games, the Region 9 girls basketball teams faced critical contests. But with so much on the line, the top teams in the league played their best basketball and came away with wins. Here’s a recap:

Cedar 54, Pine View 48

In a game that saw 48 fouls called, the Cedar-Pine View matchup saw both coaches go to their benches early and often. The deciding advantage came from the free-throw line as Cedar was able to outscore the Lady Panthers 24-16 from the stripe.

The visiting Lady Reds took an early advantage with a 13-9 first quarter and then duplicated that in the second quarter to take an 8-point advantage at halftime 26-18.

The Panther physicality took over in the third. Pine View chipped away at the lead slowly. Going into the fourth, Cedar’s lead had dwindled to 35-30. The lead was down to 3 with just over four minutes remaining. Cedar coach John Elison called for his team to spread the floor and run clock.

“They just kept pounding it inside on us,” said Elison. “We have a tough time matching up with them. We decided to go to our strengths with the ball-handling and shooting and go into our spread.”

The Lady Reds got one layup out of it. The rest of their points came from the line when Pine View was forced to foul.

“We are still learning when it comes to who to foul,” PV coach Chris Brinagh said. “A few times we fouled their best shooters. That hurt us.”

Both teams shot evenly from the floor (40 percent) and were also even forcing turnovers (19). Pine View outrebounded Cedar 30-25.

“With the foul calls, it turned into a slow, grinding game,” said Elison. “We hit enough foul shots at the end to win it.”

Individually, Courtney Morley led Cedar with 13 points and 4 assists. Morgan Myers, Maisie Elison and Dream Weaver each scored 9. Jessica Whetman had 8 points and 8 rebounds. For Pine View. Sarrah Pierce and Tayvia Ah Quin scored 13 and 11 points, respectively. Claire Newby and Stefani Gleave had 6 apiece.

It was senior night for the Lady Panthers. Seven girls were recognized, notably Ah Quin, Natasha Fiame, Gleave, Brooklyn Kauvaka, Jillian Serna, Kenya Schone, and Pierce.

“These seven girls have taken this program from the depths of hell,” Brinagh said. “We literally could not win a ball game. They stuck with the program and have made it the success it is today.”

Brinagh noted that all seven have a grade point average of 3.8 or higher and that all seven will attend college on academic scholarships.

Pine View falls to 11-8 overall and 3-5 in Region 9. The Panthers will be on the road for their final two games. Tuesday they will visit Desert Hills before traveling to Hurricane on Thursday.

Cedar remains in second place in Region 9 with a 6-2 record. The Lady Reds are 15-5 overall. They will travel to Hurricane on Tuesday before having their senior night hosting Dixie on Thursday night.

Snow Canyon 60, Hurricane 46

The visiting Lady Tigers kept with the first-place team through much of the first half. The deficit was only 24-23 at the break.

“We did not come out with the intensity we needed in the first half,” said Warrior head coach Dan Roden. “We got caught out of position a few times on defense and Hurricane took advantage. After halftime, we came out with more fire.”

The Lady Warriors broke it open in the third quarter, outscoring Hurricane 18-4 before coasting to the 14-point victory. Madison Mooring led all scorers with 21 points.

“Mooring was playing injured (knee) tonight,” said Roden. “Her play in the second half was infectious. Her teammates followed her lead and played with more intensity in the second half.”

Mooring was joined in double figures by Sydney Bott and Shaylee Reed with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Hurricane was led by Morgan Huntsman with 16 points. Taylor Anderson and Jayden Langford scored 11 and 8.

Snow Canyon remains in first place at 7-1 in the Region 9 standings and 16-2 overall. The Lady Warriors will travel to Dixie next week before wrapping up their season at Desert Hills.

Hurricane falls to 8-12 overall and 2-6 in region play. The Lady Tigers will host Cedar on Tuesday night before traveling to Pine View on Thursday.

Desert Hills 62, Dixie 34

The Lady Thunder had little trouble dispatching visiting Dixie. Desert Hills jumped out to a quick 12-point advantage after the first quarter and led 31-18 at the break.

The Lady Flyers played Desert Hills pretty evenly in the third quarter, but suffered a 15-2 blitz in the final period.

Ashley Beckstrand led all scorers with 26 points. Kylie Williams scored 11 and had 8 steals. Elly Williams and Jess Bills pulled down 10 and 9 rebounds. For Dixie, Kelsea Barker led with 13 points. Ilah Wallace scored 8.

The Lady Thunder stand third in Region 9 at 5-3 and are 10-9 overall. They will host Pine View on Tuesday before traveling to Snow Canyon for their final game. Dixie falls to 1-7 in Region 9 and 3-15 overall. The Flyers will host Snow Canyon Tuesday before traveling to Cedar for their final game.

REGION 9 STANDINGS
TEAM RECORD PF PA
1. Snow Canyon 7-1 454 368
2. Cedar 6-2 415 354
3. Desert Hills 5-3 426 363
4. Pine View 3-5 382 368
5. Hurricane 2-6 353 410
6. Dixie 1-7 302 469

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