ST. GEORGE — The Region 9 boys basketball schedule tipped off Wednesday night with one road winner and two home teams defending their territory.

Dixie beat Crimson Cliffs for the second time this season, Pine View senior Nash Schroeder shined in a win at “The Pit” and Cedar held on to win on its home floor.

Snow Canyon (3-3) doesn’t play its first Region 9 game until Jan. 5 at home against Crimson Cliffs.

Following are recaps of Wednesday night’s opening round of Region 9 boys basketball games.

Dixie 75, Crimson Cliffs 59

The Flyers blew the roof off of the building in Washington Fields, efficiently handling the Mustangs for the second time this season.

“I was just proud of our guys for staying the course and executing down the stretch,” Dixie coach Tyler Roberts told St. George News.

On a night when Mustangs senior big man Sean Felts limited Dixie’s standout center Kyle Lemke to 12 points, Breckon Robinson went off for a game-high 24 points for the Flyers. Jordan Roberts scored 21 for the winners.

“That was fun to see our guards step up and get paint-touches and get to the basket,” Coach Roberts said.

The Flyers (7-1 overall, 1-0 Region 9) were the model of efficiency, totaling 19, 19, 18 and 19 points in each quarter. They led by 13 at halftime and Crimson couldn’t climb back into the contest.

Robinson dropped his 24 from all over the floor, sinking two 3-pointers and also driving to the hoop with a variety of crafty ball-handling skills.

Jordan Roberts followed suit, compiling his points by driving to the basket and finishing with close-in layups and bank shots.

“They’ve been playing together since the second grade,” Coach Roberts said about Dixie’s starting senior guards. “That’s just playing off of each other and that’s chemistry. Just knowing each other and trusting each other.”

Felts scored 17 points and two 3-pointers to pace the Mustangs along with sophomore McKay Lindquist, who sank a 3-pointer and finished with 17 points overall.

“We just got to keep getting better, defensively and rebounding,” Coach Roberts said.

The Flyers head to California for a holiday tournament then return to the Region 9 hardwood Jan. 5 at home against Hurricane.

Meanwhile Crimson Cliffs (5-6, 0-1) next plays Jan. 5 at Snow Canyon.

Pine View 73, Desert Hills 58

Senior Nash Schroeder dropped 34 points in the dominant win in “The Pit” and the Panthers rolled to their fourth consecutive victory.

The Panthers (7-3, 1-0) took a 25-point lead at halftime and never looked back.

The Thunder (5-5, 0-1) won both the third (18-13) and fourth (20-15) quarters but their early deficit was too much to overcome.

Schroeder netted four 3-pointers as part of his outburst. Senior teammate Griffen Shepherd sank three treys among his 13 points and big man Trevor Condie canned 12 points for the winners.

First-year head coach Patrick Amico has the Panthers riding a wave of momentum and are off to a winning start in region play. Pine View’s next Region 9 contest is Jan. 10 at home against Snow Canyon.

Jackson Holman led at Thunder scorers with 16 points including four 3-pointers against Pine View.

Ben Chase made two 3’s and tallied 13 points and Eli Allred also scored a baker’s dozen in the loss. Hunter Clark was the Thunder’s fourth double-digit scorer, netting 10.

Desert Hills plays their next Region 9 game on Jan. 5 at home against Cedar.

Cedar 65, Hurricane 56

At Cedar, the Reds used a 21-point fourth quarter to pull away from the Tigers.

Hurricane started by outscoring Cedar 18-13 in the opening quarter, with senior center Cayleb Jackman netting nine of those points.

“Jackman is 6-foot-10 and it’s tough to score over him,” Cedar head coach Tyler Monks said afterward. “Hurricane’s long, and I think that caused us some problems. But we just told our kids to attack the length. We started to do that and we got some shots to fall. We did a great job getting into the paint and getting our guys going.”

The Reds went on a 14-0 run to start of the second quarter to go from five points behind to nine ahead.

The Tigers stayed within striking distance throughout the third quarter, which ended with the Reds nursing a 44-41 advantage.

As late as the 4:40 mark of the fourth quarter, it was still a two-point ball game, with Cedar leading 51-49.

But the Reds converted 9-of-11 free throws down the stretch and added a couple of timely 3-pointers to extend their lead out of Hurricane’s reach.

Leading Cedar’s balanced offensive attack was Landon Kreitzer with 16 points, with sophomore Tate Stubbs adding 15 and Easton Albrecht contributing 12.

For Hurricane, Jackman finished with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds, with RJ Hurst adding 11 points.

Monks said his team’s strong finish in the fourth quarter was encouraging, in light of recent narrow defeats to both Sky View and Manti.

“We’re learning how to win,” he said. “We just had to learn through those (close losses), and I think that really helped us tonight.”

The victory was Cedar’s second in a row and third in its last four games after an 0-7 start. Cedar (3-8, 1-0) will next host Layton Christian in a non-region contest on Dec. 29. The Reds’ next scheduled Region 9 game will be at Desert Hills on Jan. 5 at 7 p.m.

Meanwhile, Hurricane (4-5, 0-1) will be participating in the Hodson Cancer Classic in Cedar City next week (Dec. 27-29), with games scheduled against Canyon View, Panguitch and Grantsville.

The Tigers’ next Region 9 contest will be on Jan. 5 at Dixie.

–written by Jeff Richards

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