Region 10 girls basketball: Dixie, Snow Canyon and Cedar end regular season with wins

Written by E. George Goold
February 14, 2022

ST. GEORGE — While Region 10 champion Desert Hills got the night off to rest up before the playoffs, the region’s other six girls basketball teams concluded their regular season on Valentines Day.

At Dixie, the sizzling Flyers honored their three seniors with a hard-fought victory that raised their winning streak to three games.

Elsewhere, Cedar came alive in the second half to win at home, while Snow Canyon won comfortably on the road.

Following are recaps of Monday night’s games:

Dixie 53, Pine View 48

Dixie fell behind after the first quarter, 14-5, as the Panthers came out strong on the road and startled the Flyers.

Pine View jumped to its big lead in the frame behind three 3-pointers, two by Emily Norton and one from Avery Gustin.

Dixie hosts Pine View in a Region 10 girls basketball game, St. George, Utah, Feb. 14, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

But the Flyers recovered to control the second quarter 17-3, taking a 22-17 advantage into the halftime intermission that they never let go.

“We had a talk and made adjustments on our defensive side,” Dixie coach Briana Barrett told St. George News about the difficult first quarter. “I think that they came out really well after that, holding them to just the three points.”

Dixie rolled to the win behind big nights from two players. Kealah Faumuina tied for the game-high with 19 points while Hali Smith was right behind for Dixie with her 18 points, including a 3-pointer.

All three seniors for Dixie scored points on senior night as Rees Lorentzen tallied five points in the win and both Ariana Catardi and Grace Poulsen had a bucket for Dixie.

“This was my first senior night that I was host and was a part of,” Barrett said. “So it was just really fun. Our three seniors, I just love them. We’re definitely going to miss them.”

Pine View did not go away quietly and got within four at 44-40 after Gustin’s drive and score. The Panthers later were as close as three at 48-45 after Norton’s 3-pointer.

But Dixie secured the win from the foul line as Faumuina shot 5-of-7 free throws in the final quarter.

Emma Jensen led Pine View with 19 points including four 3-pointers. Norton sank four treys and finished with 12 points for the Panthers.

Dixie finished fourth in the Region 10 standings at 5-7. Meanwhile, Pine View finished sixth with a region mark of 4-8.

The Utah High School Activities Association is scheduled to release the 4A state tournament bracket with final RPI rankings on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.

Snow Canyon 53, Crimson Cliffs 41

The visiting Warriors took command with an 18-3 first quarter and never let the Mustangs in the game after that.

Snow Canyon at Crimson Cliffs, Region 10 girls basketball, Washington City, Utah, Feb. 14, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Stan Plewe, St. George News

Snow Canyon upped its halftime advantage to 30-18 and led 41-28 after three quarters of play.

Individual scoring statistics were not available at press time.

Snow Canyon improved its final region record to 10-2, good enough for a second-place finish in Region 10, in addition to a likely top-four spot in the final 4A RPI rankings heading into the upcoming state playoffs. 

Meanwhile, Crimson Cliffs finished 1-11 in region play this season.

Cedar 49, Hurricane 35

Cedar’s Braylee Peterson scored 17 of her game-high 22 points during the third quarter, taking the Reds from an eight-point halftime deficit to a nine-point lead heading into the final quarter.

Cedar then rode the momentum to an eventual 14-point win over Hurricane.

The two teams played evenly in the first quarter, with Hurricane taking an 11-9 lead. Cedar evened up the score by making the first basket of the second period, but the Tigers then went on a 9-0 run to lead 20-11.

Hurricane at Cedar, Region 10 girls basketball, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 14, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

With less one minute remaining before halftime, Hurricane led 24-12, but Cedar converted a pair of free throws and added a layup off a steal to close out the quarter on a 4-0 run and head into the locker room down by eight points, 24-16.

“Those baskets really helped our momentum,” said Cedar head coach Corry Nielsen. “Instead of being down by 12 we go in kind of excited because only down eight. And I just told them, ‘We need to get four stops in a row.’”

That’s exactly what Cedar did. By the time 90 seconds had elapsed in the third quarter, Hurricane’s lead had completely evaporated, with Peterson capping off an 8-0 run by taking it inside for a layup.

“It was about motivation and just wanting it more,” Peterson told St. George News afterward. “Hurricane definitely wanted it more in the first half, but then we came out stronger and that just kind of changed the whole game.”

Peterson was one of the team’s four seniors honored before the game on Senior Night, joining McKelle Kerns, Jessica Grant and Kali Crowley.

Also contributing to the Reds’ second-half rally was the defensive play and rebounding of sophomore Emery Harrison, who didn’t play the first half but helped hold Hurricane’s Addi Crandall, who had scored 10 by halftime, to just three points in the second half.

“She made a huge difference in our inside defense,” Nielsen said of Harrison.

In addition to Peterson’s 22 points, also contributing to Cedar’s offense were Jessica Grant and Haylee Campbell, who each scored seven points. The Reds finished the regular season with a 6-6 region record.

Hurricane, meanwhile, was led by Crandall’s 13 points and 13 rebounds. Lindy Erickson added seven points and Nizhoni Dominguez scored six. The Tigers ended up with a 4-8 record in Region 10 play.

— written by Jeff Richards

Region 10 girls basketball standings (as of Feb. 15):

  1. Desert Hills 12-0 (16-4).
  2. Snow Canyon 10-2 (15-6).
  3. Cedar 6-6 (11-9).
  4. Dixie 5-7 (8-11).
  5. Hurricane 4-8 (9-13).
  6. Pine View 4-8 (8-13).
  7. Crimson Cliffs 1-11 (4-17).

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric George Goold came to St. George News from southwestern Colorado, where he was a radio news reporter. He has been a journalist for over 20 years in five different states. He graduated with a master's degree in English from Kansas State University and writes nonfiction as well. Goold has been published in Sunstone Magazine and has done multiple public readings about local history. When he has free time, he enjoys chess, movies and dogs.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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