John Renshaw •
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• Published: January 27. 2011 4:55AM
| ST. GEORGE - McCrae Vaifanua is playing with a chip on his shoulder - stemming from critical missed free throws in a Region 9 loss earlier this season.
As a result, the senior has put in extra practice time at the charity stripe.
On Wednesday night, it paid dividends as Vaifanua found redemption, hitting six consecutive free throws late in the fourth quarter to ice the Tigers' 46-40 win over Pine View.
"It's crunch time in region and we needed this win," said Vaifanua, who finished with 14 points and four assists. "I just wanted to come through for our team. É I let them down against Dixie by missing big free throws and that's a feeling I never want to have again."
Vaifanua's night was certainly an interesting one.
Aside from matching up with talented Pine View's Darren Powers (14 points on 3-of-10 shooting), the Hurricane senior endured battles from within.
Coach Gordon Dotson substituted the veteran a time or two in the first half, and their brief exchange on the bench was intense.
Vaifanua said that he altered a particular play, which was not to his coach's liking. However, the veteran quickly added it wasn't as big of a deal as it seemed.
Tensions were even higher on the court.
The Panthers (1-6 region, 6-10 overall) overcame deficits time and again through its grit and physical play. Behind a strong Panther turnout in the stands - they sang "Happy Birthday" to coach Darrell Larsen prior to tipoff - the Tigers weren't going to have an easy road to their second straight win.
The telling sign to Pine View's effectiveness was its stifling full and half-court trap defense, a strategy that often disrupted Hurricane's offensive flow.
Hurricane (4-3 region, 12-4 overall), which sits third in in the region, watched its 22-18 halftime lead slowly evaporate in the third. Jordan Farrer's offensive rebound and put-back gave the Panthers a 25-24 lead midway through the quarter.
Said Dotson: "I keep telling our boys that winning comes back to playing tough defense. Every team is going to make a run at some point. It's about making plays and critical stops."
That's exactly what Hurricane did as guard Taylor Parker soon followed with an offensive board and put-back of his own, giving the Tigers a 26-25 advantage. It was a critical play; the Panthers never regained the lead. They did force to two ties in the fourth at 32 and 34, but never could quite get over the hump.
With less than three minutes to play and Hurricane leading 40-38, Vaifanua connected on both free-throw attempts en route to hitting four more down the stretch to secure Hurricane's win.
PAROWAN 65, MILLARD 54: Zack Wood scored 30 points and grabbed 16 rebounds despite giving up eight inches to his interior opponent in the Rams' home victory.
Weston Robb added 15 rebounds for Parowan, which withstood a 24-point night from Millard's Jesse Rhoades.
KANAB 71, BEAVER 64: No details reported.
Girls basketball
MILFORD 46, ESCALANTE 31; BRYCE VALLEY 52, PANGUITCH 51: No details reported.
Wrestling
PINE VIEW 60, DIXIE 18: The Panthers rolled in their final dual meet before regionals.
Pine View got pins from Eli Williams (130), Zach Worlton (135), Josue Delgado (145), Trevor Thompson (152) and Jeremy Banks (160).
The Flyers earned a pair of pin victories - Josh Batin (189) and Tanner Theobald (285).
For full results, see the Standings and Scores section on B3.
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