ST. GEORGE – Road teams had won five of six Region 9 games heading into Wednesday’s action. The home team said enough is enough as Dixie, Hurricane and Snow Canyon each protected their home courts.

For the Flyers, shooting was key, especially at the free throw line. Dixie made 16 of 18 charity shots to defeat Canyon View at The Hangar.

The Tigers trailed Pine View by as many as 14 in the second half before rallying to tie the game in regulation. The two teams then participated in two of the more bizarre overtimes a basketball fan could ever see. More on that in a minute.

For the Warriors, which had started region play 0-2, a win was crucial and Braden Baker shot lights out to make it happen.

Here’s a look at Wednesday night’s successful night for the home teams:

Dixie 57, Canyon View 53

The Flyers kept pulling out to big leads … and the Falcons kept reeling them in. But ultimately, Dixie did something it hadn’t done well all season – make free throws to ice a game.

“Our kids made free throws,” Dixie coach Ryan Cuff said. “We have made free throw shooting an emphasis these last few weeks and I am happy our guys knocked them down.”

Behind Carson Bottema and Tanner Cuff, Dixie scored 30 points in the first half and it looked like the Flyers were well on their way to a blowout win with a 30-22 halftime edge. But Trevor Farrow (three 3-pointers) led a comeback charge for Canyon View in the third quarter. The Falcons outscored Dixie 13-8 in the period and trimmed the deficit to just 38-35 heading into the fourth.

“Canyon View played great,” Coach Cuff said. “They were very prepared and their kids executed on both ends of the floor. They are a very quick team and play aggressive. We give them a lot of credit in playing hard and hitting big shots. They never quit. They are going to bounce back and win some games.”

As it turns out, three points was as close as Canyon View would get in the fourth quarter. Dixie, which was just 21 of 35 from the line in its last two games (60 percent), hit an impressive 16 for 18 from the line against the Falcons, a robust 89 percent.

“I am pleased that we came away with a big region win,” Coach Cuff said. “Every game is a battle and we expect it to be that way every night. I love this team and we look forward to helping them get better and better.”

Bottema finished with a game-high 16 points, while Tanner Cuff added 14. Five more Dixie players had at least four points each, including Jace Bennett and Derek Cox, who scored six each.

For Canyon View, it’s another tough defeat. The Falcons are 0-3 in region, losing the three games by a combined 15 points. Joey Lambeth led CV with 15 points. Farrow and Toby Potter added 11 each. Star Brantzen Blackner was held to nine points.

The Flyers, now 10-2 overall and 2-0 in Region 9, will travel to Hurricane for a Friday night region battle. The Falcons are home to face Snow Canyon Friday night.

Hurricane 55, Pine View 53 (F/2 OT)

This game had a lot of storylines. Pine View battled foul trouble. Hurricane rallied from 14 down in the second half. Jackson Last was scoreless through the first 10 minutes, but ended up with 24 points.

But overshadowing all that was the odd pair of overtimes. In the first extra frame, Pine View won the tip, then promptly turned the ball over. Hurricane then held the ball, without even looking for a shot (or being guarded by the Panthers), for the next 3 1/2 minutes. After a timeout with 11 seconds left, Last drove toward the hoop and then was called for an offensive foul before he could get a shot off. With the clock reading 0:00, neither team had attempted a single shot in the overtime.

In the second OT, Hurricane won the tip and the same process repeated itself. Pine View made more of an effort defensively, but the Tigers were still successful in running nearly the entire four minutes off the clock. With 16 seconds to go, Hurricane coach Todd Langston called a timeout and set up a play.

This time, Last caught a pass on the baseline and drew a double-team. He split the defense and found teammate Reagan Marshall in the low post. The 6-foot-6 Marshal banked home the go-ahead shot with two seconds left. Pine View then tried a 3/4 court heave at the buzzer that was off the mark.

The carnage: Two OTS, two combined shot attempts, four total possessions, two total points and one victory for Hurricane.

“Well, if they’re willing to stand back and we have possession of the basketball and we get the last opportunity to score, worst-case scenario is we just go into another overtime,” Langston said. “First time we did it, we didn’t get a very good play. We didn’t get a very good look. The second time, we called a timeout with a little more time to set up. We knew they were going to double Jackson, so we just rolled Reagan to the basket and he was wide open for the bucket.”

Last, who leads the state of Utah in scoring at 26.1 points a game, deserved the attention Pine View’s defense gave him. He had scored 24 points, including consecutive three-point plays when the Tigers were erasing a 13-point second-half deficit.

“I didn’t have the best night, but I was just trying to do whatever I could to get us back in the game,” Last said. “(On the last play), I cut to the corner and they brought two at me. I didn’t see Reagan at first, when he was more open. But I saw him at the last second and got it to him. He made a tough shot, but I’ll take Reagan down there any day.”

Marshall, who is nursing a torn hip labrum that will need surgery after the season, said he was happy the play worked like it did at the end.

“Jackson got the ball in the corner and they triple-teamed him or something like that,” he said. “I was just sitting in the key waiting for the ball. I was ready for the shot. Anything I can get inside the key is what I thrive on.”

The winning shot wouldn’t have been possible without Hurricane’s furious rally late in the game. Ahead 25-22 at halftime, Pine View scored the first eight points of the third quarter to take a 33-22 advantage with 5:17 to go. The lead ballooned to 40-26 after a trey by Michael Moten, a jumper by Jack O’Donnell  and two free throws by Hunter Moore with 2:59 left in the third.

The Tigers started chipping away from that point. Five quick points by Last made it 40-31 and a driving layup by Adam Heyrend cut it to 42-33 at the end of the third.

Tayler Tobler hit a trey to keep Hurricane at bay at 53-45 with 3:08 left, but Last got a three-point play, a steal and another three-point play to cut it to 53-51 with 2:19 to play. The Tigers finally got the equalizer with under 40 seconds left when Last stole the ball from Tobler and dunked home the tying basket.

Neither team could score in the closing seconds, setting up the bizarre overtime periods.

Hurricane, 8-3 overall and 2-0 in region, got 24 from Last, plus 10 points each from Heyrend and Russell Nield. The Tigers didn’t hit a single 3-pointer on the game (0 for 13), but made 17 of 23 free throws. Last also had seven rebounds, three steals and three assists.

Pine View, 5-7 and 1-2, was led by O’Donnell with 18 points and Tobler with 10. The Panthers made 6 of 22 treys and 13 for 19 from the line. Tobler had four assists and three steals, while Connor Brooksby led PV with seven rebounds.

Hurricane hosts Dixie Friday night, while Pine View is home for the visiting Desert Hills Thunder.

Snow Canyon 59, Cedar 48

After getting blown out twice to open region play, the Warriors needed a good outing at home in a bad way … and they got it, with Braden Baker tossing in 22 points to lead them to the win.

“We shot the ball well tonight,” Snow Canyon head coach Jamison Sorenson said. “We were patient in our offense and took great shots. Baker was very efficient scoring the ball and really let the offense come to him.”

Snow Canyon led 16-12 after one quarter, with the Redmen hanging within five (25-20) midway through the second. But Baker started to heat up after that. His trey just before halftime helped the Warriors to a 10-point lead at intermission, 32-22.

Baker then scored 10 of his game-high 22 in the third quarter as SC started to pull away. Bryson Childs also heated up as the Warriors extended the lead to 51-36 after three.

Cedar made a run in the fourth and pulled to within 11 with three minutes left, but the Redmen could get no closer.

“Going forward, we feel like when we play our style of basketball we can compete with anyone,” Sorenson said.

Snow Canyon got the big win despite a quiet night from star center Joey Robertson, who had just eight points and two rebounds. Childs was big again, scoring 15 while swiping away 10 rebounds. Austin Staheli added five points and five assists.

The Warriors broke a two-game losing skid with the victory, improving to 5-8 overall and 1-2 in region play. SC will travel to Canyon View next Friday.

Cedar, 8-6 overall and 1-2 in region, got 13 points from freshman Dallin Grant, 11 from senior Ethan Boettcher and 10 from senior Alec Jacoby. The Redmen have a bye Friday night and will play again next Wednesday when Pine View travels to Cedar City.

Wednesday’s results
Dixie 57, Canyon View 53
Hurricane 55, Pine View 53 (F/2 OT)
Snow Canyon 59, Cedar 48

Region 9 Standings
Dixie  2-0, 10-2
Desert Hills  2-0, 9-3
Hurricane  2-0, 8-3
Cedar  1-2, 8-6
Pine View  1-2, 5-7
Snow Canyon  1-2, 5-8
Canyon View  0-3, 5-9

Friday’s games
Dixie at Hurricane
Desert Hills at Pine View
Snow Canyon at Canyon View

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