Panthers, Warriors open 2017-18 season with one-sided wins

Written by Andy Griffin
November 29, 2017
Pine View vs. Enterprise, Boys Basketball, St. George, UT, Nov. 29, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – The 2017-18 boys basketball season tipped off Wednesday night for two of Region 9’s teams, with Pine View winning at home against Enterprise and Snow Canyon dropping Parowan on the Rams own court.

The two Wednesday games are the start of a busy next few days for southern Utah teams. From Thursday through Saturday, Region 9 teams will play in 18 different basketball contests, with the bulk of the games being played at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield, plus tournaments in Draper and Las Vegas. See below for a full schedule of the games.

Pine View 62, Enterprise 45

Tayler Tobler had 20 points and newcomer Jack O’Donnell added 16 as the Panthers raced out to an early lead and never looked back.

Enterprise opened the game with a 3-pointer and actually led 6-2 midway through the first quarter. But Tobler buried a trey and O’Donnell followed that with a steal and a basket as the Panthers dominated the next four-plus minutes, going on a 19-4 run.

With the Panthers up 7-6, Connor Brooksby scored inside and was fouled, then Dallin Brown took it to the hole and converted on a three-point play of his own. Pine View also got a 3-pointer from Hunter Moore in the run and led 21-10 after one quarter of play. Tobler hit another 3-pointer in the second quarter as PV moved to a 29-16 halftime edge.

Pine View’s Dallin Brown (32) and head coach Ryan Eves, Pine View vs. Enterprise, Boys Basketball, St. George, UT, Nov. 29, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

“I was really happy with the way we played defense, especially in the first half,” Pine View coach Ryan Eves said. “I thought we really got after on defense. Tobler shot the ball well, but he really played great on the defensive end. He had eight deflections. He has great anticipation.”

Any thoughts of an Enterprise comeback were quashed with a big third quarter by the Panthers. O’Donnell had a steal to open the third and dished to Michael Moten to make it 31-19. The lead ballooned to 43-24 late in the third on a trey by O’Donnell and Pine View coasted from there.

O’Donnell, who moved in last summer from New York, had 11 rebounds to go with his 16 points.

“He probably has the most experience of anyone on our team,” Eves said. “He played two years of varsity at his last school. No one on our team is surprised. He had a great summer for us. He’s probably our best slasher and he’s a great passer, too.”

Brown, a junior, had nine points and four steals for Pine View, which forced 18 Enterprise turnovers. The Panthers hit 25 of 51 shots from the floor, almost as good as their 9 for 18 from the line. Brown and teammate Jacob Farish fouled out of the game as the Panthers were whistled for 27 personal fouls (Enterprise had 21).

Pine View, 1-0, heads to Richfield for the Central Utah Preview tournament Friday and Saturday (see schedule below).

Stats: Box Scores for Enterprise Boys @ Pine View Boys

Snow Canyon 53, Parowan 41

It was a face-off of big men as Snow Canyon’s Joey Robertson and Parowan’s Porter Miller went toe-to-toe Wednesday night, with Robertson’s Warriors coming away with the double-digit win.

“Those two battled all night,” Snow Canyon coach Jamison Sorenson said. “But I thought we established the post early and we got Joey a lot of good touches.”

Robertson finished with 11 points, plus got lots of help. Bryson Childs led all scorers with 17 points (plus 11 rebounds) and Braden Baker added 12 points and seven steals.

“Childs was just fierce inside,” Sorenson said. “He took it upon himself to be the man on the boards. And Braden was everywhere on defense. He really ratcheted it up all over the court on D.”

The game was close through two quarters, with Snow Canyon holding a 28-23 halftime advantage. But the Warriors allowed just five points in the third quarter and extended their lead to 39-28 before coasting home with the win.

“We out-rebounded them 30-10,” Sorenson said. “That was an area where we struggled last year. We allowed way too many second-chance points. But I don’t know any coach that wouldn’t be happy with a 30-10 rebounding advantage.”

Snow Canyon, 1-0, heads north to the Corner Canyon Tournament of Champions the next three days in Draper (see schedule below).

Region 9 boys basketball upcoming games
THURSDAY
Canyon View vs. Arbor View, 6:50 p.m. (@ Vegas Legacy Tournament at Legacy High School)
Cedar at Richfield, 7 p.m.
Snow Canyon vs. Riverton, 8:15 p.m. (@ Corner Canyon Tournament of Champions)

FRIDAY
Cedar vs. Grantsville, 11:30 a.m. (Central Utah Preview at Sevier Valley Center in Richfield)
Desert Hills vs. Uintah, 2:30 p.m. (Central Utah Preview at Sevier Valley Center in Richfield)
Dixie vs. Stansbury, 4 p.m. (Central Utah Preview at Sevier Valley Center in Richfield)
Pine View vs. Richfield, 5:30 p.m. (Central Utah Preview at Sevier Valley Center in Richfield)
Hurricane vs. South Sevier, 7 p.m. (Central Utah Preview at Sevier Valley Center in Richfield)
Canyon View vs. tbd, 4:55 p.m. (L) or 6:20 p.m. (W) (@ Vegas Legacy Tournament at Legacy High School)
Snow Canyon vs. tbd, 4:55 p.m. (L) or 6:35 p.m. (W) (@ Corner Canyon Tournament of Champions)

SATURDAY
Pine View vs. Uintah, 9 a.m. (Central Utah Preview at Sevier Valley Center in Richfield)
Dixie vs. Emery, noon (Central Utah Preview at Sevier Valley Center in Richfield)
Desert Hills vs. Stansbury, 1:30 p.m. (Central Utah Preview at Sevier Valley Center in Richfield)
Hurricane vs. Richfield, 6 p.m. (Central Utah Preview at Sevier Valley Center in Richfield)
Cedar vs. Juab, 7:30 p.m. (Central Utah Preview at Sevier Valley Center in Richfield)
Canyon View vs. tbd (2 games), semifinals & finals (@ Vegas Legacy Tournament at Legacy High School)
Snow Canyon vs. tbd, time tbd (@ Corner Canyon Tournament of Champions)

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andy Griffin has been in sports media since 1989 and has covered BYU, Utah State and the Utah Jazz as well as all sports in southern Utah. A journalism graduate of USU, Andy has carried on a dual career as both a sports writer and a sports broadcaster and has been heard around the country. He has also been published in USA Today, Sport magazine, The Sporting News, Fairways magazine, the Los Angeles Times and locally in the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Spectrum. Andy was “The Voice of Region 9 sports,” for many years. He also hosted a daily sports talk show for three years called AG in the a.m. Andy has been married to his college sweetheart Shelly for 28 years and has five children ages 13 to 25.

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