CEDAR CITY — It was another busy holiday week of tournament games Tuesday, with Region 9 coming away with just a single loss over the day of action. Here’s a recap:

Desert Hills 60, Skyline 55

Defense was key as Skyline only managed to score 8 points in the fourth quarter and Desert Hills rallied for a 60-55 victory Tuesday in the Steve Hodson Cancer Classic at Cedar high School.

Desert Hills got its second win of the Classic after a win against Union Monday. The win gives the Thunder an 8-1 record going into its final game of the Classic against Spanish Fork.

Skyline led 47-45 going into the fourth quarter, but the Thunder defense came up big, forcing three turnovers in a row and the offense seemed to come easier as DH took a 53-47 lead. D-Hills head coach Wade Turley said the defense of his team at the start of the fourth quarter was the key to the game.

“We got two or three turnovers in a row from our press,” Turley said. “We got a little momentum there, and it gave us some energy. We’re at our best when we’re running up and down the floor, pressing and getting after people. It wears a lot of teams out.”

DH guard Logan Hokanson said his team responded to the pressure.

“I think we realized we were down by a couple, and we needed key buckets, so I think that’s what really got us going,” he said.

Desert Hills struggled from the free throw line throughout the game, making only 11 of 21 attempts. When needed though, Hokanson knocked down the final four free throws to seal the game.

“It’s all focus for me,” Hokanson said. “I just need to focus and give my 100-percent effort on the free throw line. Usually I lack on that.”

Turley said the team works on free throws, but sometimes they don’t fall.

“We work on it every day,” he said. “It’s just one of those things, some nights we’ll shoot 80 percent from the line. Last night we shot six for seven and tonight we were off. I try not to make a big deal out of it, but we work on it every day.”

Skyline’s Jack O’Donoghue led all scorers with 33 points as he kept going strong inside and Desert Hills struggled to stop him. Coach Turley knew the task would be playing big, though.

“We knew coming in they were a good, quality team,” he said. “We really felt like rebounding was a key for us. We struggled the first half. They got a lot of rebounds and put backs. Their post kid really hurt us. He scored 21 points in the first half. We tried to double-team him when he got it, it helped some. I just thought our kids kept finding ways to be scrappy. It was good to see the kids finish strong.”

Desert Hills plays Spanish Fork Wednesday in the Steve Hodson Cancer Classic at 3:30 p.m. at Canyon View Middle School.

Stats: dhsky122915

Dixie 65, Cyprus 59

The Flyers continue to roll, but this time with a twist. Tyler Bennett, Dixie’s leading scorer, was absent, so the Flyers needed a team effort to rally past the Pirates.

James Eardley had a career-high 19 points and Malachi Otis and Richard Guymon chipped in 10 apiece as Dixie overcame a 10-point deficit by outscoring Cyprus 21-7 in the fourth quarter.

Connor Dyches added nine points and Kaden Elzy had eight for Dixie, which improved to 8-2 on the season. Dixie will continue play in the Riverton Holiday Tournament Wednesday and Thursday, before a matchup Jan. 9 at Bishop Gorman.

Hurricane 87, Calvary Christian (Nev.) 70
Coral Academy 64, Hurricane 57

Playing two games in one day is never easy as the Tigers found out Tuesday. In the first game, the Tigers scored the most points for the program in a number of years by getting off to a quick start against the Lions of Calvary Chapel Christian. Hurricane score 29 points in the first quarter and 51 by halftime.

Kirt McDaniel was spectacular in the first game, scoring 30 points, including four 3-pointers. He also handed out three assists. Riley Ballard added 18 and Josh Parker had 14 for the Tigers, who went to 5-3 with the win despite playing without star post player Reagan Hinton.

In the second game of the day, the offense would not come as easy as the Tigers struggled shooting the ball from the floor and the free throw line vs. the Falcons.

Josh Parker had 19 points in the loss, while Jared Frehner had 10. HHS fell to 5-4.

Cedar 41, Union 35

Both Cedar and Union scored four points each in the second quarter, but Cedar won the game in the second half, taking the lead and the win in a defensive battle.

Cedar was led by Mason Fakahua with 12 points. Keenan Nielson added 11 points and Parker Haynie scored nine more to help out in the win.

Union was led by Chance Ross with 11 points.

Cedar plays Wednesday against Carbon at 5 p.m. at Cedar High School to end their play in the Steve Hodson Cancer Classic.

Canyon View 57, Spanish Fork 43

Brantzen Blackner had 21 points and nailed five 3-pointers as the Falcons moved to 7-6 with the win.

CV battles Millard at 8 p.m. at CVHS Wednesday night.

• Andy Griffin contributed to this report

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