(St. George, UT) – The Pine View Panthers boys and girls both started their preseason with wins over visiting Virgin Valley Monday night much to the delight of the home crowd at the Panthers’ pit.

The Lady Panthers (1-0) did their part first by winning 55-50 over the Lady Bulldogs. Pine View built a 10-point halftime lead by careful shot selection from the field. The Panthers went 6-of-12 from the field in the first quarter, and 4-of-9 in the second quarter to produce near 50-percent shooting at the half (10-of-21) and led 32-22 going into the locker room. In contrast, the Bulldogs fired away and only were 5-of-26 shooting in the first half.

Pine View got good offensive production from multiple sources. Jody Aitui and Kirsten Andersen each tallied eight points while Melissa Judd scored seven in the first 16 minutes. Judd finished as the high-scorer for Pine View (14) and pulled down 12 rebounds, while Aitui had nine boards.

Early in the third quarter, Pine View extended its lead by 13 points (37-24) but Virgin Valley fought back and closed the distance. The Bulldogs went on a 15-to-7 run to make Pine View lead 43-39 a couple of minutes into the fourth quarter but they could not get past the five-point difference.

Bulldogs sophomore Abbie Barnard was the game’s high scorer with 24 and teammate Cassidy Crandall finished with 12. Barnard hit five three pointers, registered four rebounds and swiped three steals.

Pine View’s Andersen totaled 13 points and Kenzie Hawes scored nine points, had four rebounds and two steals.

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GIRLS BOXSCORE

Virgin Valley 9 – 13 – 13 – 15 < 50

Pine View 13 – 19 – 11 – 12 < 55

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Pine View’s boys would not let down the home crowd and won a feisty 53-46 contest against the Bulldogs.

Similar to the girls, the boys started out by making their shots going 7-of-12 from the field in the first quarter to score 18 points. Pine View entered the second quarter with an 18-11 lead and a lone Bulldog was responsible for the 11 points. Senior Nolan Tanner of Virgin Valley was his team’s only player to send the leather globe through the net in the first eight minutes. Tanner hit three three-pointers and a deuce to start his game off well. He was 4-of-7 shooting and had two steals.

However, the Panthers made defensive adjustments against Tanner and he only made one field goal in the second quarter. His team caught up though and helped the Bulldogs to make the halftime score 26-23 Pine View.

Virgin Valley outscored the Panthers 19-13 in the third quarter and gained the lead at 42-39 when Bulldogs senior point man Humberto Urias nailed a buzzer-beater trey to close the third.

Pine View coach Darrell Larsen used nearly all of his players and many combinations to find compatible and effective squads. Larsen admitted that he was not sure what to expect entirely from his team in a first contest.

“We win ugly, but I like our athleticism,” Larsen said. “Our kids don’t quit and they like to fight for a win.

“That game was a great learning opportunity. The film will be useful to do some teaching. It’s preseason and we’re just trying to figure out what kind of team we’re going to be.”

In the fourth quarter, the Pine View players showed their coach some of their ability when they put the clamps on the Virgin Valley offense with great pressure, had some absolute rebounding, and made some free throws. The Bulldogs only scored four points, one field goal and two free throws while the Panthers tallied 14 points, mostly coming from the charity stripe.

Pine View’s Dallin Milne sank 6-of-8 free throws (in the 4th) to help sink the Bulldogs chances and senior Mitch Godfrey steadied the Panthers’ team with his two field goals, two steals and two rebounds.

Milne led Pine View with his 16 pts on 3-of-6 field goals and 8-of-12 free throws. Sophomore guard Jack Bangerter scored nine points on his three treys made, and Godfrey had eight points with seven boards.

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BOYS BOXSCORE

Virgin Valley 11 – 12 – 19 – 4 < 46

Pine View 18 – 8 – 13 – 14 < 53

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