Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
ST. GEORGE – A Region 11 school participated in each of the four games Tuesday at Dixie State University in the 4A basketball semifinals. However, only one advanced to a championship game.
4A GIRLS SEMIFINALS
The girls semifinal games began with a Region 11 rematch between Ridgeline and Green Canyon. As in their previous two encounters, the Riverhawks prevailed, this time 53-41. With the win, the top-ranked Riverhawks advance to the 4A championship game Wednesday at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast on 104.5 The Ranch and streamed online here with Dave Simmons and “The Patriot” Nick Zollinger providing play-by-play.
The second game of the day played out in a similar fashion, featuring Sky View and Desert Hills. The game was a rematch of a game played in mid-December in Smithfield. In that game, Desert Hills prevailed 47-43. On Tuesday, the Thunder won again, this time 55-43. The Bobcats made a run to make the game close with just a few minutes left, but ultimately Desert Hills pulled away to seal the game and a trip to the 4A girls championship. #1 Ridgeline and #2 Desert Hills will square off for the state championship. The two schools faced each other in the state volleyball championship, which the Riverhawks won in a sweep.
4A BOYS SEMIFINALS
For the boys, the #4 Sky View Bobcats put the #1 Snow Canyon Warriors on their heels in the first quarter. But the Warriors rallied in the 3rd and the game was played down to the wire. After Snow Canyon scored a go-ahead bucket with 10 seconds to go, players from their bench stormed onto the court to celebrate. But since a timeout was not called, Snow Canyon was assessed a technical foul. Both free throws were made by Sky View to tie the game and the Bobcats were able to retain possession. However, Snow Canyon stole the ball on the in-bounds pass and scored the winning basket on a put-back and Sky View was out of time outs, unable to stop the clock.
The final game of the evening featured another rematch. Not only was it a rematch of a game played in mid-December at the Coach Walker Classic between Ridgeline and Dixie (which Ridgeline won 53-39), but it was also a rematch of the state championship game in football (which Ridgeline also won 45-20). But this time it was the Flyers who were victorious. Dixie’s slow-it-down game plan stifled Ridgeline’s typical up-tempo pace. Early foul trouble also hindered the Riverhawks on the way to a 56-47 loss.
Just like in the girls bracket, the 4A boys championship will feature #1 vs #2 with the tipoff scheduled at 6 p.m.