Region 9 girls basketball: Defense swats 1 for Hurricane; Snow Canyon, Pine View also win

Written by E. George Goold
January 16, 2024

ST. GEORGE — Region 9 girls basketball teams put on a show Tuesday night as the path toward the championship took some turns.

Hurricane won a game on the road with its defense while Snow Canyon showed no doubt at home and remains the only unbeaten team in the region.

Meanwhile, Pine View put together its most complete effort of the year at home and came away with its first win in the Region 9 season.

Desert Hills had a bye and remained at 5-7 overall with a 2-2 mark in region games.

Hurricane 55, Crimson Cliffs 52

Addison Crandall watched the play develop and knew exactly where to be.

Hurricane’s Addison Crandall (left) scores against Crimson Cliffs in a Region 9 girls basketball game, Washington, Utah, Jan. 16, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Ahead 53-52 with less than 30 seconds left in the game, Hurricane (9-6, 2-2) locked down its defense while Crimson Cliffs moved the ball around the arc, worked it inside and burned precious seconds off the clock looking for a game-winning shot.

Then Crimson’s Summer Adams drove through the lane and worked in close for a layup, one-on-one against Crandall.

“I just saw that she was waiting to come around, so I was like, going to be real sneaky and just catch her when she comes off the screens,” Crandall told St. George News. “I was just trying not to get beat.”

Crandall swatted the shot attempt right to Hurricane’s Abby Stout, who was immediately fouled. Stout sank both free throws and Crimson was unable to launch a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds.

“We’re a very athletic team. We have a lot of really good seniors this year,” Crandall said. “We have some really good up-and-coming juniors and a cute little freshman, she’s really good.”

After the first quarter ended tied at 14, the home team Mustangs rallied for a 30-23 lead at halftime.

But the Tigers roared back to take the third quarter 17-7, setting up the fourth quarter heroics by Crandall.

Stout led all scorers in the game with 19 points, 10 of them in the second half, and Crandall netted 16 points for the winners. Katen Myers was a strong presence for the Tigers, finishing with 13 points.

Crimson (2-13, 0-5) was led by Adams’ 16 points and Alyssa Whittaker’s 12. Kinsey Plewe sank three 3-pointers for nine points in the setback.

Snow Canyon 67, Dixie 56

Snow Canyon’s Joey Jensen works against Dixie in a Region 9 girls basketball game, St. George, Utah, Jan. 16, 2023 | Photo by Aaron Crane, St. George News

The Warriors (13-1, 4-0) handled the Flyers at home behind big nights from their three junior leaders.

Olivia Hamlin drained four 3-pointers to finish with 25 points in the victory. Kelly Howard contributed a trio of 3-pointers and 21 points to the win and Joey Jensen capped the balanced Snow Canyon attack with 15 points.

The Warriors did not let the visitors from Dixie get comfortable and led 17-10 after the first quarter.

The defense held the Flyers to 10 points again in the second quarter and Snow Canyon lead for good at halftime, 36-20.

Dixie (8-7, 3-1) came out of halftime strong and won the third quarter 18-14. The Flyers kept coming back, winning the fourth quarter 18-17 but the early deficit was too strong to overcome on the road.

Pine View 48, Cedar 42

At Pine View, the Panthers defeated the Cedar Reds for their first region win of the season.

Cedar (11-4, 3-2) jumped out to an early 11-3 lead in the first quarter, but Pine View then went on a 7-0 run, capped by a baseline shot by Reese Gustin to make it 11-10 at the end of the first.

Midway through the second quarter, Gustin tied the game at 17 with a 3-pointer.

Cedar guard Gabby Gomez answered with a trey to put Cedar back on top 20-17 with 3:20 left in the second quarter.

Pine View (5-10, 1-4) went on a 9-0 run before Cedar’s Annalyse Shimada made a 3-pointer as time expired, leaving Pine View up by three at the half.

“For me a key part of the game was the last two minutes of the second quarter, when we went from down 20-17 to up 26-20 with a string of good defense, layups and converted free throws,” Pine View head coach Ben Luce told St. George News afterward. “They hit a 3 at the buzzer, but otherwise that run gave us a lot of confidence for the rest of the game.”

The Panthers scored the opening basket of the second half to go up 28-23. They then maintained a lead of at least four points for the remainder of the game, as Cedar was plagued by numerous missed shots and turnovers.

Shimada managed to cut Pine View’s lead to four points on a conventional 3-point play with 14.9 seconds left in the game to make it 46-42.

Pine View then sank two more free throws on the other end to seal the victory.

“We’re a very young team but starting to figure some things out and be a little more consistent,” Luce added.

Gustin led the way for the Panthers in scoring with 16 points, with Hayden Harris and Aniva Seve each adding seven.

Cedar was led by Shimada’s 16 points, with Gomez adding 14 points.

– written by Jeff Richards

Region 9 girls basketball games, Thursday, Jan. 18:

  • Dixie at Desert Hills, 7 p.m.
  • Crimson Cliffs at Pine View, 7 p.m.
  • Snow Canyon at Hurricane, 7 p.m.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, 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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