Region 9 girls basketball: Snow Canyon keeps rolling; Desert Hills, Pine View win to keep chase

Written by E. George Goold
January 18, 2024
Pine View's Charity Falaniko shoots against Crimson Cliffs in a Region 9 girls basketball game, St. George, Utah, Jan. 18, 2023 | Photo by Aaron Crane, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — The Snow Canyon Warriors are distancing themselves from the rest of the pack in Region 9 girls basketball.

The Warriors posted a big road win Thursday night behind their usual stars. Since losing 54-52 in overtime to Richfield Nov. 30, Snow Canyon has reeled off 13 consecutive victories.

The Warriors’ win streak in Region 9 contests going back to last year is 17 in a row.

Desert Hills held on for a close victory at home and Pine View also defended its homecourt and posted its second consecutive region win of the year.

Cedar had a bye and remained at 11-4 overall and 3-2 in Region 9 contests.

Desert Hills 44, Dixie 42

Desert Hills’ Jenna Brown scores against Dixie in a Region 9 girls basketball game, St. George, Utah, Jan. 18, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

In a tightly called defensive battle in the Thunderdome, Desert Hills (6-7, 3-2) scored just enough points in the fourth quarter to fend off a furious Dixie comeback.

The Thunder had a comfortable 40-28 lead after three quarters of play after clamping down on Dixie’s offense for most of the game. Slowly but surely, the visitors staged a late rally.

Kealah Faumuina canned two free throws and Dixie (8-8, 3-2) cut the lead to 40-32 at the 5:34 mark of the fourth quarter.

Jaycee Bundy followed with two charity tosses of her own, then Faumuina rebounded her own miss and put it back to cut the Thunder lead to 40-36 with 3:21 on the clock.

Hali Smith stole the ball then went to the other end for a layup and suddenly Dixie trailed only by a bucket, 40-38, at the 2:34 mark.

Smith then stole the Thunder’s ensuing possession and Faumina battled down low for a bucket that tied the game 40-40 with 1:40 left.

But Tess Peterson stopped Dixie’s run with a bucket that put the home team back ahead 42-40. Jacie Riding came up with a Thunder steal, then Peterson was fouled.

She sank one free throw that was almost immediately answered by Dixie’s Jaycee Bundy, who scored to cut Desert Hills’ lead to 43-42 with 25 seconds left.

Ellie Westhoff made 1-of-2 free throws and Dixie got the ball back with over 6 seconds left. They worked the ball to Faumuina in the paint but she was unable to make a tying shot.

Faumuina led all scorers with 24 points. Freshman Averi Gledhill scored seven points for Dixie and Smith chipped in with six in the setback.

Peterson and Jenna Brown finished with 11 points apiece to pace the winners. Riding made two 3-pointers to finish with her eight points and Westhoff finished with five for the Thunder.

Pine View 53, Crimson Cliffs 44

Crimson Cliffs’ Jaynee Hall dribbles against Pine View in a Region 9 girls basketball game, St. George, Utah, Jan. 18, 2023 | Photo by Aaron Crane, St. George News

The Panthers (4-14, 2-4) won their second consecutive game behind 14 points by Charity Falaniko. Casey Morley sank a 3 and finished with 10 for the winners.

Claire LeFevre sank two 3’s and contributed nine points to the win.

Pine View set the tone with a 14-9 first-quarter win, then held the visiting Mustangs (4-14, 0-6) to just four points in the second to take an insurmountable 32-13 lead at halftime.

Crimson won a strong third period 15-6 and edged the Panthers in a 16-15 final frame to round out the score.

Summer Adams scored a game-high 16 points in the defeat including four 3-pointers. Kinsey Plewe was next for Crimson with 10 points including two 3-pointers.

Snow Canyon 65, Hurricane 31

The Warriors (14-1, 5-0) wasted no time in the Tiger’s Den, racing to a 20-13 lead after the first quarter.

Hurricane (9-7, 2-3) did not achieve double-digit scoring in any other frame and Snow Canyon never looked back. The Warriors led 31-19 at halftime and 48-27 after three quarters of play.

Junior Olivia Hamlin sank two 3-pointers as part of her game-high 28 points. She was 4-of-5 from the free throw line and she recorded two assists and three steals for the winners.

Fellow junior Kelly Howard was 3-of-4 behind the arc and finished with 16 points for the Warriors. Sophomore Chaylee Andrews made her presence known with 11 rebounds for the winners, a game-high.

No Tiger finished with more than Abbigail Stout’s seven points in the defeat. Fellow seniors Whitnie Esplin and Nizhoni Dominguez scored six points apiece in the setback.

Region 9 girls basketball games, Tuesday, January 23:

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