Region 9 girls basketball: Snow Canyon captures title with 1 week left; Cedar, Hurricane both win

Written by E. George Goold
February 8, 2024
Pine View's Hayden Harris and Cedar's Kenzie Bird battle on the floor for a loose ball in Region 9 girls basketball action, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 8, 2024 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

ST. GEORGE — Olivia Hamlin poured in 34 points to pace Snow Canyon to a 66-57 win over Dixie to highlight Thursday night’s Region 9 girls basketball action.

With two games to play and their nearest competitor three games behind, the win locked up the Region 9 championship for Snow Canyon, its second in a row.

The Warriors are a perfect 10-0 in region play entering the final week of the regular season and will look to finish the region slate unbeaten in back-to-back seasons.

The Cedar Reds, meanwhile, continued to build their playoff resume, having defeated visiting Pine View 60-45. Cedar’s Annalyse Shimada led all scorers with 24 points, while teammate Gabby Gomez had 17. The Reds have a bye next Tuesday.

Hurricane handled Crimson Cliffs 64-58 and improved to 5-5 in region play. Also at 5-5 are Dixie and Desert Hills; the Thunder had a bye Thursday and will return to the court for a pivotal matchup Tuesday night at the Flyers.

Snow Canyon 66, Dixie 57

Snow Canyon’s Joey Jensen drives against Dixie in a Region 9 girls basketball game, St. George, Utah, Feb. 8, 2024 | Photo by Aaron Crane, St. George News

The Warriors locked up the Region 9 championship but had to earn it after Dixie took a five-point lead into the late stages of the contest.

A determined Flyers team fed off the home crowd in the Hangar, taking control in the second half with a 19-9 performance in the third quarter.

Later, Snow Canyon’s players found themselves in the rarest of situations, down by three with a little more than six minutes remaining.

“I told the team, don’t freak out,” Snow Canyon coach Sue Hoskins told St. George News after the win. “Run the offense. We got this.”

The Warriors went back to their bread and butter, also known as Olivia Hamlin, the leading scorer in Utah high school basketball.

Hamlin sparkled in a 34-point performance, sinking two 3-pointers along the way. 

That was just enough to outshine Dixie senior Kealah Faumuina, whose 18 points helped Dixie build its late lead.

“We knew this game would be tough. We knew that Dixie would be wanting to beat us really bad,” Hoskins said. “I knew we needed to focus on Lala, and I thought our posts played incredible defense.” 

Jaycee Bundy had a big night for the Flyers, tossing in three 3-pointers as part of her 15 points. Brinlee Bennett and Hali Smith contributed two 3-pointers apiece and combined for 15 Dixie points in the setback.

Kelly Howard was the second-leading scorer for the winners with a 3-pointer and 14 points for Snow Canyon, which passed a major test late in the region season.

“I’m glad for the adversity. We needed it,” Hoskins said. “But I told the girls we need to finish strong to the end. We need to correct some things we’re not quite good at right now. And then we just need to be ready to go when the state tournament starts.”

Hurricane 64, Crimson Cliffs 58

Trailing at home after each of the first three quarters, the Tigers rallied for a fourth-quarter comeback and beat the Mustangs by six.

Crimson Cliffs looked poised to capture its second win in region play, leading 15-9 after the first quarter and 23-21 at halftime.

The visitors kept up the pressure with a strong third session, leading 47-34.

But then Hurricane flipped the script and erupted for 30 fourth-quarter points, snatching the victory away from the visitors.

Nizhoni Dominguez led the home team’s comeback, posting a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. She also tallied one 3-pointer, two assists, one steal and one block.

Addison Crandall contributed a double-double of her own for the Tigers, scoring 12 and grabbing 10 boards. Whitney Esplin was the hot shooter for the winners, netting five 3-pointers and totalling 16 points.

Crimson’s Colleen Korella led all scorers in the contest, pouring in 23 points and three 3’s. Kinsey Plewe also netted three 3’s in the setback, scoring 16.

And Summer Adama rounded out Crimson’s double-digit scorers with her 11.

Cedar 60, Pine View 45

Junior forward Annalyse Shimada scored 24 points to lead the Cedar Reds to victory over Pine View.

Cedar’s Gabby Gomez drives into the lane while closely surrounded by Pine View defenders in Region 9 girls basketball action, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 8, 2024 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The Panthers took a 9-7 lead in the first quarter, thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Casey Morley and Isabel Jensen. However, Cedar finished the quarter on a 5-0 run to lead 14-9 at the end of the period. 

The Reds kept their rally going by scoring the first 11 points of the second quarter to take a 25-9 lead with 5:30 left. The Panthers never fully recovered from that point on, as Cedar took a commanding 37-19 halftime lead.

After an evenly played third quarter, the Reds were held to just three field goals during the fourth, yet they still managed to maintain a healthy double-digit lead throughout the second half.

Also scoring in double figures for Cedar was guard Gabby Gomez with 17 points, while fellow guard Kelsi Orton added seven and center Kiara Hansen scored six.

Pine View was led by Reese Gustin’s 13 points, while Morley added 12.

– written by Jeff Richards

Region 9 girls basketball standings:

  1. Snow Canyon (19-1, 10-0)
  2. Cedar (16-5, 8-3)
  3. Hurricane (12-9, 5-5)
  4. Dixie (10-11, 5-5)
  5. Desert Hills (8-10, 5-5)
  6. Pine View (4-17, 2-8)
  7. Crimson Cliffs (5-16, 1-10)

Schedule for Tuesday, Feb. 13:

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