St. George • Dixie used a big second half to take down Pine View for a 49-27 home victory in a battle of crosstown rivals Wednesday at the Hangar.
The victory gave the Flyers their fourth consecutive win and helped the team stay perfect in Region 9 play at 7-0.
Carson Bottema scored a game-high 13 points, Derek Cox chipped in 10 points and Tanner Cuff aded nine points in the win.
Pine View’s Jack O’donnell had a team-high 11 points and three rebounds, but a sluggish second half by the Panthers doomed any chance at an upset.
While the loss doesn’t eliminate the Panthers from playoff contention, Pine View has no room for error with four games left in the regular season. Combined with Wednesday’s loss and Canyon View’s win over Cedar City, the Panthers sit three games back of both Canyon View and Hurricane for the final playoff spot.
“We knew Pine View was going to give us a challenge and give us their best shot,” Dixie senior Carson Bottema said. “We made adjustments at halftime and came out with some intensity and were able to pull away and get another region win.”
After Dixie jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter, holding Pine View without a bucket until a minute left in the first quarter, the Panthers came charging back and outscored the Flyers 12-5 to tie the score at 15-15 at the half.
“We got out to a big lead and we started to get complacent,” Dixie coach Ryan Cuff said. “Then Jack [O’donnell] hit some big shots and we started forcing passes and turning the ball over. But I was pleased to see the guys come out with energy in the second half, which helped us get some easy baskets and get our offense going.”
When asked what was said at halftime to get the team going, Bottema only smiled before admitting that the coaches made sure to motivate the players.
“Our coaches are always telling us that defense leads to offense, and so we came out just focused on getting stops, and it helped our team get out and run and get some easy baskets,” he said.
Whether it was a block, steal or deflected pass, Dixie made an emphasis to quickly push the ball up the floor, which led to a number of fast-break points and dunks for the Flyers. That included Cuff’s nifty one-handed full-court throw to Cox, who threw down the ball for a huge dunk in the fourth quarter.
“Pine View was really slowing it down and limiting the possessions in the first half, and so in the second half we came out and controlled the tempo and just played our game,” Bottema said.
Up next for the Flyers is a showdown against Canyon View and Brantzen Blackner. The Falcons have won five in a row and are led by Blackner, who is averaging more than 21 points per game.
“We are going to make sure we triple team him,” Cuff said half-jokingly. “Canyon View is a good team and has a lot of good shooters, and it’s going to be another good test for us.
DIXIE 49, PINE VIEW 27 <br>• The Flyers improve to 7-0 in Region 9 with the win. <br>• Carson Bottema scores a game-high 13 points to lead Dixie. <br>• Jack O’donnell leads Pine View with 11 points.