Region Rush! Top 9 Plays in Southern Utah Baseball

Another awesome week in Region 9 Baseball last week.

Dixie was awesome last week. They had four wins out of region including American Fork and Pleasant Grove.

Desert Hills and Crimson Cliffs split their series and showed how close the race to the top could be.

Snow Canyon mashed as always.

Pine View's Andrew Shakespeare, Porter Campbell, and Kyson Milne make the Rush again this week.

Gavin Mackert is hitting like crazy for the Cedar Reds.

Tune into The Andy Thompson Show weekdays from 4-6pm on ESPN 97.7!

Region Rush Presented by The Matt Hickman Lending Team (March 19)

Week two was pretty good for Region 9 Baseball.

Snow Canyon was out of town, they went 1-2 in a tournament in Arizona playing some of the best teams in the West.

Pine View and Crimson Cliffs are both 2-0 in Region play while Dixie and Desert Hills split against each other last week. Cedar and Hurricane are looking for their first region win this week.

Crazy stat leaders through week 2 in Region Baseball

Transcript:

"Tyler West has 21 hits, in 38 at bats. He's gotten a hit in all 11 games and according to my research, going back to last year he's on a 20 game hit streak...

Andrew Shakespeare's OBP is .694 he has 12 hits and 12 walks. He just gets on base!

Haigen Reed has 19 RBI's in 35 plate appearances. How is that possible. Every time this guy is up he hits someone in.

Nash Schroeder leads the region in strikeouts with 24, he's only pitched 15 innings!

Region Rush tomorrow! Presented by the Matt Hickman Lending Team at Academy Mortgage!

We got games for you this week on ESPN 97.7 and Fox Sports Utah 101.9!

AWP Play of the Week from last week...

Ridge Erickson mashed Tuesday night against Desert Hills. He had three hits including this 2 RBI triple.

Dixie lost Wednesday night at Desert Hills as the Thunder out hit the Flyers 7 hits to 2 and won the game 6-2.

Region Rush Top 9 Plays!

Transcript:

It's the ESPN 977 Region Rush presented by the Matt Hickman Team at Academy Mortgage let's mash...

Leading off…

Logan Leavitt...oppo double. Plops it and scoots for a double.

Porter Campbell wants to hit one into the lights finds a barrel at pine view.

Crew Secrist off the monster...hey Brogan should get 10% of Crew's eventual pro contract in my opinion.

Makaio Swensen inside out, laser...and we know he has the speed to get to second.

Alright top 9 who else wants to hit?

9. Trace Franco...with a trey bagger...the fans love him!

8. The Bard...sweet swinging Andrew Shakespeare! Show em who you are!

7. Ryder Harrison Bombers... like a young larry walker...

6. Trey Evans goes off a roof in Warshington

5. Let's have the camera man call this next one

4. Hammerin Harmon Skeen! Gone.

3. Nostradaumus in the stands...pretty good call there, although with Hayden it's pretty easy

2. Don't pitch to this guy in the bottom of the last inning he's Jeter. Max Orton, Mr. Clutch. Winner winner let's go dancing. 

1. No footage because nobody films the pitchers. 15 faced 15 retired way to go Kyson Goates. perfect game

And we got a bonus bomb. Mr Brinagh! 10 U redbirds I was there! He went into the suburbans! Way to go we'll see you next week on the region Rush!

Region 9 Baseball Opening Week

Transcript:
Region 9 Baseball goes 23-7 in its opening weeks. Snow Canyon goes 4-0 and scores 43 runs and only allows eight runs!
Hayden Smith has two home runs already, Hurricanes five and one. Bryson McCauley has four extra base hits.
Crimson's 4-1. The team has five triples already.

And it's not just Tyler West. Trey Evans is 8-of-15 with a bomb.
Dixie is three and one. Logan Leavitt has faced 31 batters. He's struck out 11 of them.

Max Orton had a walk off against Maple Mountain. Clutch gene. What else is new?

Pine View is 3-1. Andrew Shakespeare has three RBIs and a triple for the Panthers.

Desert Hills is three and one. Haigen Reed is hitting .571 with a triple and a home run.
Seven RBI.

Cedar is 2-2. They beat Sky View 17-6. Jacob Boyer is hitting 500 with six RBIs.
Region Play starts this week. Listen on ESPN 97.7

Snow Canyon softball has a ton of talent back and has one of the most respected coaches in all of 4A.

They also have Avery Thorkelson returning on the mound who was a dominant force pitching and hitting last year.

They started their season 3-1.

Kyza Andrews wins Findlay Subaru GameChanger of the Week

Congratulations to Kyza Andrews!

This week's Findlay Subaru GameChanger. Kyza was a tremendous teammate and leader at Snow Canyon and helped her team to another awesome season.

Findlay Subaru provides a $100 gift card to each winner and is a great supporter of local high school athletics.

Region 9 Baseball Media Day

Watch Full Media Day below:

Region 9 Baseball is Stacked

Transcript:

"Region 9 Baseball has won the state title 11 of the last 12 tournaments.

• 23 - Crimson
• 22 - Crimson 
• 21- Snow Canyon
• 20 - COVID
• 19 - Desert Hills
• 18 - Dixie
• 17 - Dixie
• 16 - Pine View
• 15 - Pine View
• 14 - Grantsville
• 13 - Snow Canyon
• 12 - Snow Canyon

That's more dominant than any other region in any other sport! Region 4 in football is great but they don't have Corner Canyon or Bingham.

Here's some of the all-state players who return this year in Region 9:

• Hayden Smith at SC slugged 731 last year!
• Boston Vest at Dixie had 20 extras base hits in 28 games.
• Andrew Shakespeare at Pine View had three triples
• Tyler West at Crimson Cliffs had 21 Stolen bases
• Jace Fillmore at Desert Hills is only a Junior!

Tune in to Region 9 Baseball Media Day this week on ESPN 97.7

Region 9 Basketball All-Region First Team

Congratulations to all these players who made the Coaches First Team All-Region 9 Basketball Team.

This is one of the most stacked senior classes we've ever had.

Region 9 First Teamers

Region 9 MVPs

Defensive MVP Video

Kyle Lemke is one of the most dominant players in Region 9 history. He anchored the Dixie defense and allowed the perimeter players to be aggressive knowing Lemke was protecting the paint. He was also one of the most efficient and unstoppable big men that we've ever seen. Nobody could stop Lemke down low and he was incredible at running the rim in transition. Congratulations Kyle!

Region 9 MVP Video

The coaches poll Region 9 MVP is one of the most unique players to ever win the award. Jordan Roberts was the quarterback of the Dixie Flyer offense on one of the best teams to ever do it down here. He set all-time state records for assists in a season and a single game and lead the nation in assists per game. He lead Dixie to an undefeated region record and was electrifying to watch. Congratulations Jordan!

4A Tournament Thoughts

Transcript: 
"All right, Larry. Tournament in review

The boys' side of the bracket at seven games at UVU, the average margin was six points in those games!

Pretty dang close tournament.

Owen Mackay scored 56% of his team's points in three games.

He's the tournament MVP. I don't care that he didn't go to the title!

In the Cottonwood game, he held Chris Cox to six points on defense and scored 31 of his team's 45 points.

He had the best tournament of anybody.

I'm heartbroken for the Dixie Flyers and that group of seniors. One of the best, biggest upsets in the history of southern Utah basketball and in the sea of bedlam and celebration and chaos in the middle of the floor right after the game, a great show of sportsmanship and respect. Owen Mackey and Kyle Lemke, two of the greats embracing. That was a cool moment.

Olivia Hamlin and the Snow Canyon Girls will be back next year. Emilee Skinner is a super duper star, but she loses most of her sidekicks next year. Hopefully we get that match up again.

It was a historic year for Region nine hoops. What a senior group all around Region nine. We're going to miss them.

Lala Leads the Way For Dixie Lady Flyers

Transcript:

Lala. Holy cow. What a comeback. Talk about how emotion you experience today. How you guys did it.

I was definitely a roller coaster of emotions. I in the first time, I thought that it was going to be a tough one to try to take back from. I'm proud of the team. And what they were able to do is keep us all in it.

And then that second half, we came back and we just felt like and I kind of to the better team to do it with me. What's going through your mind this time? Most of the first half, the foul trouble, You didn't even score a point in the first half and you come back and it immediately hurt your your ankle and many things like things are going your way.

You fight through that. The first half was probably really tough. I hate sitting on the bench, especially when we're down. So that one was a tough one to fight back from. But when we went in the locker room, the coaches gave us a talk and they just said that if we want it as bad as we say we do, then we got to come out and show them.

And that's what really fooled me. And then coming back in and hurting my ankle was probably not on the list of things I wanted to happen. But I think that helped me to feel me to just show them that I can do it even when stuff gets done. And finally, talk about how your teammates carried you to a position where you could make that and help them make that call.

They have been such a big help having the team that can carry the ball or handle the ball on the outside while I figure out what I'm trying to figure out in the post or in the paint has been such a great help. They've been people that can get me the ball when I'm in the weirdest angles or the weirdest positions and they just get those shots that matter. When I pass it out to them.

Transcript:
All right, Larry. Mountain View at Snow Canyon, 6 p.m. on 890 KDXU.

Desert Hills at Dixie, 7 p.m. on ESPN 97.7

Pine View at Ridgeline 7 p.m. on Fox Sports 101.9

Crimson Cliffs at Green Canyon 7 p.m. also on Fox Sports 101.9

We're going to red zone those two games.

Region Rush Team Spotlight brought to you by the Matt Hickman team at Academy Mortgage!

Coach Murdock

Green Canyon has very good shooters. So and and we've got we've got to do our best job you know we do now on shooters you know they've got Laker they've got Anderson we haven't really got the space four and they're deep they're not afraid to shoot that from from anywhere.

So we've got to make sure we guard the perimeter. Their bigs are, you know, are decent too. They're not bad players. So overall, we got to do a good job just playing together as a unit and just again, making them take some tough shots.

Sean Felts

They got a lot of strong players on that team. I think it's going to take us having a lot of intensity on the offensive end and defense as well. So it'll take us being physical, you know, diving, doing the small things that will help us win the game.

Luke Johnson

If we can lock down, if we can get our own shooters or we can keep Laker and Anderson to as little points as we can. And I think we I think when I think we got a real chance.

Trevor Taylor

Big key is making them uncomfortable and make them get to the hole. We have Sean down low, me down low. So if we can get them down low, I think we have a good chance of protecting the paint.

Drake Carroll

I think the the camaraderie we have with our players, this is the closest we've ever been as a team in all the years. And I think everyone agreed. So just trusting each other and knowing that whoever it is will make the right play will be.

Transcript:

Andy: "Today we're looking at Kealah Faumuina from Dixie High. What jumps off the film when you watch Lala?"

Kasey: "Man, she is dominant and she has been for years and you know we've we've been in quite a few Dixie games.

The thing that I know, I mean, that Desert Hills game on Tuesday night, she was bringing the ball up the court. She was rebounding, she was scoring, she was getting to the free throw line. You know, she was defending. And any time that Lala gets the ball in the paint, it's two points. And she has amazing footwork. She has amazing moves.

She had an amazing and one the other night with her left hand. She's got a good jump shot from 15 to 18 feet, can even extend it out to three. You can just garner with one person. If if you do, it's going to be a long night for that person and she's going to go off for a huge night.

And so I've been really impressed with how hard she plays and just everything that goes into her performance."

The Dixie Lady Flyers take on Park City tonight at 7pm. Listen on ESPN 97.7!

Initial Boys Bracket Reaction

Transcript:

"Alright, Larry, let's do it. Initial bracket reaction. Toughest draw has got to be Desert Hills. Good news. They just played Dixie great. Bad news last time you played in the Hangar it didn't go well. Good news Eli is hot and last time you played Dixie, he had 30 points. Also good news, Coach Allred's tournament record: 4-3 in his first three years at the D-Hills.

Plus he wins in the postseason in all sports, baseball, girls basketball, boys basketball. He lives for the postseason. They've got to get past Jordan on Wednesday.

Upset potential in the second round...Crimson Cliffs with Scoop [Johnson] back. They look great. They'll get Green Canyon in the second round. Green Canyon started the season 13-0, then started their region 1-5, but then finished strong to end the season going 4-0 including a win at Logan. Jared Anderson went bonkers in that game. He had five threes. He's played varsity for four years. You remember he had a great game against Desert Hills back in December. They're good. But according to a reporter up in Cache Valley:

"Sometimes they struggle with taller teams."

Well, Crimson has a guy who is pretty dang tall.

Pine View vs Ridgeline, potential second round matchup.

Pine View has a better one-two scoring punch. But Ridgeline has got a star wing/big hybrid in Carson Cox and a stretch-big and Francom who can pound down low and make threes and a classic point guard in Cam Blatter who sets everybody up averaging five assists a game.

Plus a coach who wins a lot in the tournament.That's a tough match up for Pine View potentially in the second round if they can get past Uintah.

Snow Canyon will potentially play against Mountain View in the second round. This is a rematch from earlier on in December.

Owen Mackay had 38 points in their first matchup.

It stinks Snow Canyon's in the same quadrant as Dixie. I would have loved Snow Canyon to even be the eighth seed just so we could avoid having snow cane in Dixie play each other that early in the tournament.

More thoughts to come!"

Listen to The Andy Thompson Show weekdays from 4-6pm

Team Spotlight Pine View Panthers

All right, Larry. Region nine hoops tonight. We've got a triple header. Desert Hills is hosting Snow Canyon on ESPN 97.7, Cedar is at Dixie on 590 KSUB and the Hurricane Tigers are in The Pit taking on Pine View.

We caught up with a few Panthers last night.

Team Spotlight brought to you by the Matt Hickman team at Academy Mortgage.

Coach Patrick Amico

"Yeah. It has a totally different meaning after last night you know first got to give credit to Coach Murdock and the guys different groups and they did a great job and everything was a tough one.

So now we got to be ready. Hurricane, you talk about a guy doing a great job Coach Stout over there and they are peaking right now. They're playing their best basketball at the end of the year.

And of course, it's a night where we get them. So and they're going to have some revenge on their mind. Cayleb Jackman's back. He's an elite shot blocker, he's a great rebounder. So it's going to be tough.

And hopefully at home we can knock down some shots and hit some free throws and come out with the win.

Griffen Shepherd on getting to 1000 points

It was awesome. I mean, like always been. I mean, Nash also has a thousand. Yeah it's like nice because like when I had off nights he would be scoring more and like, we just pick up for each other.

Nash Schroeder on playing with Shepherd

"Yeah, it's been awesome. We've been playing together since eighth grade and I don't think we get to a thousand points without each other. So it's definitely a pretty cool that we both have a thousand points."

_____________________________

Jordan Roberts Makes History

Transcript:

"Alright Larry let's do it! A change needs to be made to the single season Mount Rushmore at UHSAA headquarters

Points - Rusty Price, North Rich High 1978

Rebounds - Barry Gardner, Dugway High 1975

Blocks - Shawn Bradley, Emery High 1990

Assists - Jordan Roberts, Dixie High 2024

Roberts had 13 assists against Desert Hills last night to break the record. According to my count he's right around 277 assists. The previous record was 266.

Congratulations Jordan and Kyle and Logan, and Damon and Breckon, and Tyson and everybody else who contributed to this awesome record!"

Preview transcript:

"Alright Larry let's Dixie at Desert Hills let's sell the matchup

Desert Hills has won 4 straight games and is playing their best basketball of the year

Eli Allred's scored 61 points in his last two games

Jackson Holman is back! Most accurate 3 point shooter in region and he 

Desert Hills hasn't lost a region game at home all year!

And the other team...is the best team in the state and who's trying to be the first team to go undefeated in region 9 since...the Dixie Flyers did it in 2018. Should be fun we'll see you at the Thunderdome!

_____________________

"Tomorrow night, Jordan Roberts of the Dixie Flyers needs 3 assists to break the all time single season assists record currently held by the great Rylen Jones. Utah high school basketball.

Roberts is averaging 12 assists per game. We did the math. 12 assists per game in a 32 minute high school game is equivalent to 18 assists per game in an 48 minute nba game. Who has the all time NBA single season assists per game record? Basketball John. 14.5 assists per game in 1989. Jordan is out-assisting Stockton!

Who has the college record per game? Avery Johnson at Southern University 13 assists per game in 40 minute college game. Roberts would be at 15 in a 40 minute game he is out assisting the all time college guy.

He's leading the country in assists per game. 

And he's on the verge of breaking the all time state record tomorrow night on ESPN 97.7 at the Thunderdome. And they should give him a standing ovation even though it's on the road. This is remarkable."

____________________

 Utah Hoops Pyramid of Success

Let's go...

We're honoring five basketball players from the Beehive State in our weekly pyramid based on who had the best weekend.

Let's start with the bottom tier...

TIER ONE

Mason Falslev - Utah State

Falslev is one of my favorites because he's a 4A alum from Sky View. He went off against Boise State and scored 25 points and made a few threes. Falslev is all hustle on defense and is fun in transition. I look forward to watching the Aggies come tournament time.

Nizhoni Dominguez - Hurricane Lady Tigers

Domingues had 17 points and 10 rebounds in the Lady Tigers win against Crimson Cliffs. Nizhoni has scored in double figures in three straight games for Hurricane.

John Collins - Utah Jazz

Collins was arguably the Jazz best player against the Suns. Efficient game knock down shooter etc.

TIER TWO

Kyle Lemke - Dixie Flyers

Nobody can stop Lemke. He gets the lobs, he gets to his spots, he can beat you over the top with a hook shot. I don't know how teams are going to play him in the playoffs but I'm guessing he'll be shooting a lot of free throws.

Olivia Hamlin - Snow Canyon Lady Warriors

The best player in the state? I think it's close. She had 34 last Thursday and a million steals. She is a one person full-court press. Rick Pitino would love to have her on his team.

TOP TIER

Jaylen Searles - Utah Tech

Searles had a career night for the Trailblazers and what a game to have it. Cal Baptist is third in the WAC and a rival of Utah Tech. Searles went off and he is this week's King of Utah Hoops.