CEDAR CITY — The Hurricane Lady Tigers overcame a second-quarter surge by Canyon View to defeat the Lady Falcons 51-28 Thursday night.
Hurricane began the game with a 12-2 run, capped off with a 3-pointer by Madi Hirschi with 4:30 left in the first quarter. A couple of minutes later, Hurricane’s Jayden Langford added an inside shot to extend the Tigers lead to 14-2. But Canyon View scored on its next possession, with Addy Newman assisting Bryn Banks on an inside shot. After a Hurricane turnover, Canyon View’s Jordan Nielson swished a 3-pointer to make it 14-7 for the Tigers.
Langford then made another layup and got fouled, converting the free throw for the three-point play and a 17-7 lead. However, Nielson drained another 3 from the same spot to bring the Falcons within seven points as the first quarter ended, 17-10.
Early in the second, Canyon View chipped away at Hurricane’s lead, getting successive baskets from Ashlyn Banks and Nielson, followed by a 3-pointer from the top of the key by senior guard Gissella Garcia. Hurricane’s formerly double-digit lead was all but gone and cut to a single point, 18-17, with 4:50 left in the second quarter.
“We went up on them and they came right back,” Hurricane head coach Franci Homer said. “We changed a few things and made some defensive adjustments to try to get things back under control.”
Both teams struggled over the next few minutes following Hurricane’s time out, but Langford swished a pair of free throws with 1:25 left in the second quarter to give the Tigers a five-point lead, 24-19. Hirschi added another basket from an offensive rebound and teammate Tylee Brisk hit a baseline shot in the closing seconds of the first half to give Hurricane a 28-21 lead at intermission.
Hurricane stayed ahead the entire second half, outscoring Canyon View 12-7 in the third quarter and 11-0 in the fourth as it coasted to the runaway win.
“I have some great senior leaders, and their maturity carried us through tonight,” coach Homer said, saving praise for the reserve players as well. “We feel like our bench is strong. It’s huge when you can rest your starters and keep the flow of the game going.”
Canyon View head coach Jaycee Slack-Barnhurst said her team has struggled with its confidence lately.
“We just kind of fell apart,” she said. “It’s like we’re in the mindset of ‘we’re losing, and that’s OK’ … that mentality has hurt us, and we need to get back to where we think we can win again.”
Langford led all scorers with 16 points for Hurricane, while teammate Hirschi contributed 11 points. Kylee Stevens added nine points and Alexa Christensen scored seven.
Canyon View was paced by Nielson and Bryn Banks, who each made eight points.
The loss was Canyon View’s sixth straight region defeat since beating Hurricane 51-50 in the season opener at Hurricane Dec. 19. Canyon View, now 1-6 in region play, next plays cross-town rival Cedar at Cedar next Tuesday, Jan. 30.
Meanwhile, Hurricane improved to 4-3 in region with its fourth straight win, and is now tied with Snow Canyon for third place in the region standings. Hurricane has a bye next Tuesday and will host Pine View on Thursday, Feb. 1 for its next game.
Cedar 64, Desert Hills 31
In other Region 9 action Thursday, the Cedar Lady Reds picked up a convincing 64-31 win at home over Desert Hills.
Ahead by just four points at the end of the first quarter, Cedar went on a 15-6 run during the second period to take a 30-17 halftime lead. The Lady Reds stayed in command the second half, coasting to the 33-point win.
“The girls carried out our game plan well,” said Cedar head coach Corry Nielsen. “We followed our scouting report very well, and it was a great team win.”
Nielsen praised the collective efforts of several key players.
“Denim Henkel came off the bench and had key rebounds,” he said, adding, “Dream Weaver played great defense and Japrix Weaver and Logann Laws both shot well and got to the rim.”
Japrix Weaver, who led all scorers with 21 points, also had six rebounds and six assists. Laws added 11 points for Cedar, and Carley Davis contributed 10 points.
Desert Hills was led by Katelyn Philips, who had 12 points. Seven other players scored for the Lady Thunder, but none had more than four points.
The victory puts Cedar’s Region 9 record at 5-2, putting them into a tie for first place with Pine View, which lost at Snow Canyon Thursday. Cedar will next host Canyon View on Jan. 30. Desert Hills, which dropped to 3-4 in region with the loss, will host Snow Canyon that same evening.
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