CEDAR CITY — The Canyon View boys basketball team jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter at home and never allowed Cedar to get back within single digits in a 51-39 win Friday night, completing a two-game sweep of the crosstown rival.
Canyon View’s full-court press defense flustered Cedar’s offensive strategies throughout the game, especially in the first quarter as Cedar didn’t score until there was only 45 seconds left in the quarter. From there on out, both teams were evenly matched, but Cedar couldn’t overcome the slow start.
CV head coach Robbie Potter was happy with the defense the team played.
“Press is what we do,” he said. “When your (center) is six foot, you gotta press. Last (game), we recognized that (Cedar had a) lack of experience in a game of that atmosphere. They go big, which is to their advantage, and we go small. We have to take advantage of it. That means we have to make their big guys handle the ball and make them have to put it on the floor and make them make decisions, because that’s not what they want to do. We were able to keep it out of Keenan’s hands a little bit.”
Cedar had some good looks in the first quarter, but all the shots but one rimmed out to give the Falcons a 17-2 lead going into the second quarter.
“We wanted (the first quarter shutout) bad,” CV forward Xavier Stoker said. “We came out really strong and that helped us in the end. We came out with a 15-2 run and then won by 11. That really got us out of the gate. It got the environment pumping.”
The Falcons are an assist-first team as they pass the ball around quickly to get an open shot.
“One thing is that when you play the style we do, sometimes it takes other teams a little bit to adjust and settle down,” Potter said. “It comes down to sharing the ball and hitting shots.”
Canyon View was led by Cord Johnson with 16 points. Stoker scored 11 more. Lorenzo Camba added eight. Cedar was led by Keenan Nielson with 15 points. Mason Fakahua scored 12 more in the loss.
“We just tried to play hard from the start and just come out and get a win like last time,” Johnson said. “My teammates do a good job and they get me a lot of open looks. I didn’t hit all of them, but I hit some.”
The Falcons also won at Cedar High School Dec. 18 to lead to this opportunity to complete a sweep of the Redmen.
“If you didn’t notice, every kid had 2007 written somewhere on their body,” Potter said. “That’s the last time we (swept Cedar). I was here for that. That was my first year here as an assistant for (coach Jim) Langford. It just goes to show that our program is going in the direction we want it to.”
This is the first year Canyon View will play in Region 12, but it has been a good one against Region 9 and crosstown rival Cedar. Canyon View football had a back-and-forth, one-point win Sept. 4 and now two boys basketball wins in a row.
“I think you’re just looking at a group of seniors who really worked their butt off,” Potter said. “I’m not discrediting what Cedar’s seniors have done, because I don’t know. I just know how hard my kids have worked. I know how hard the football kids worked. I think it’s deserving to have that success. I’m biased, but I like to think things are swinging our way.”
Canyon View will play at Carbon to start region play Jan. 12. Cedar will start region play against Snow Canyon at home Jan. 13. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
Desert Hills 59, Arbor View (Nev.) 49
Marcus McKone continued his excellent season, scoring over 20 points for the fifth time this year. His 22 Friday night helped the Thunder pull off the road win in Las Vegas.
McKone, a senior guard averaging 17.8 points a game, made a pair of 3-pointers in the game and now has 29 on the season.
Logan Hokanson added 13 points and five steals as D-Hills opened up a 30-22 halftime advantage and never trailed after that.
McKone also had seven rebounds and was a perfect 10 for 10 from the free throw line. The rest of the team was only 8 for 17 from the charity stripe.
The Thunder are 10-1 on the season heading into Wednesday’s region-opener at home against the Hurricane Tigers. The mantra for coach Wade Turley’s squad has been defense. DH is allowing just 47.7 points per game, the best papg average in the 3A classification.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Arbor View (Nev.) 53, Desert Hills 45
The Desert Hills Lady Thunder played Arbor View High School on the Lady Aggies home floor Friday night. Desert Hills led at halftime but could not overcome a strong second half from Arbor View.
The Thunder lead was 29-19 at the break. Desert Hills guard Ashley Beckstrand had 21 points at halftime.
After the break, the Aggies double-teamed Beckstrand whenever she touched the ball. The ploy worked in slowing down the Thunder offense as Desert Hills could only manage five points in the fourth quarter.
Beckstrand led all scorers with 26 points. Kylee Williams and Elly Williams scored 10 and 7 points, respectively.
Arbor View improved to 9-7. The Thunder dropped below .500 to 5-6 with the loss. They will open region play by traveling to Hurricane on Tuesday. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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