(St. George, UT) – The 2011-12 version of the Snow Canyon Warriors generally won’t have a size advantage against opponents, so they are going to try to out-hustle and out-work opposing teams for wins and on Wednesday night, they did just that.

A big part of that formula will be applying pressure and the Warriors’ defense executed pressure beautifully against the young Pine View Panthers. Snow Canyon forced 10 first half turnovers mostly coming from a full-court press and it helped to gain an early advantage. The Warriors led wire-to-wire in its 64-44 win.

The Warriors’ defense was so disruptive that Pine View only had five field goal attempts in the first quarter (3-of-5) and when the first eight minutes ended, Snow Canyon led 15-7. Snow Canyon did not show a nice stroke either, they were only 3-of-14 from the field, but the 8-of-10 free throws made up the difference.

Pine View found some payoff in the second quarter in the form of forcing fouls and converting free throws. Dallin Milne went to the line six times in the quarter and made all six, and he hit a jumper to account for an eight-point quarter. Christian Andersen added 3-of-4 free throws and the Panthers put 16 points on the board.

But Snow Canyon’s offense was steady and its 19-point second quarter output came from eight players contributing. The Warriors shot 6-of-13 from the field and sank 7-of-10 from the charity stripe. When halftime arrived, Snow Canyon held a 34-23 lead.

An 11-point halftime lead did not exactly make Warriors’ Coach James Brown ready to sit down and fold his arms.

“We didn’t have a very good offensive flow in the first half I think,” Brown said. “We [coaches] challenged them [kids] in the third quarter because traditionally we haven’t started third quarters well. We challenged them to come out and be aggressive, put some good points on the board, and I thought they did a good job.”

His Warriors embraced the challenge and delivered well. Snow Canyon scored 18 points in the third to Pine View’s four and it was much defining in putting the game out of reach. The Warriors’ defense once again forced Pine View into seven turnovers in the quarter and at the end of third, the Warriors had raised their lead to 52-27.

“I liked our intensity and I think we outhustled them,” said senior guard Brayden Linde.

Linde, along with his teammates, are committed to trying to dictate differently how games are played out this season.

“Last year that [defense] was my biggest struggle, but I made that my main thing for this season,” he said. “I think I have improved playing defense and I do enjoy it.”

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BOXSCORE:

Pine View 7 – 16 – 4 – 17 < 44

Snow Canyon 15 – 19 – 18 – 12 < 64

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Linde led the Warriors with 18 points, Ben Smith added 14 and Chandler Gines had nine.

Milne led Pine View with 12 and Kody Wilstead and Andersen added seven apiece.

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OTHER REGION 9 ACTION WEDNESDAY NIGHT

Cedar 66-49 over Canyon View

Desert Hills 52-49 over Dixie

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REGION 9 BOYS STANDINGS:

Desert Hills 1-0 (4-0 overall)

Cedar 1-0 (3-0)

Snow Canyon 1-0 (3-1)

Hurricane 0-0 (2-2)

Dixie 0-1 (3-2)

Canyon View 0-1 (3-2)

Pine View 0-1 (5-2)

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