By Andrew Griffin, For the Deseret News Published: Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 7:58 a.m. MST
| ST. GEORGE — Six-foot-eight Boston Gubler really made his coach smile this time.
The senior center played the best game of his life by scoring 18 points, grabbing nine boards and dishing out five assists to help the Hurricane Tigers to a 66-56 Region 9 win over Dixie Wednesday night in the Flyers’ Hangar Gymnasium.
"I have been waiting a long time for him to dominate like he did tonight," Hurricane coach Gordon Dotson said. "I really love that kid. He really stepped up and owned the paint. He was just fantastic."
Gubler, who also blocked four shots, scored three of his team's first five baskets and assisted on the other two.
"You know, he didn't try to do too much," Dotson said. "He just did his job and didn't force things. Things got a little sloppy for us in the fourth quarter, but that doesn't take away from the way these kids played."
The Tigers seemed to be a step faster than Dixie in the first half, pushing out to a 29-13 lead at the half. The Flyers managed to pull to within five points in the fourth quarter, but sharp free throw shooting from McCrae Vaifanua and Nathan Barker helped secure the win.
Deshon Brown almost single-handedly led a furious Dixie comeback that brought the Flyers from a 45-26 deficit early in the fourth quarter to down six at 51-45 with 90 seconds left. Brown had an amazing 19 points in the fourth quarter, including a running 3-pointer just before the buzzer. He finished with 25 points, five rebounds and five steals.
But despite Brown's late heroics, Dixie couldn't stop Hurricane from avenging a 46-40 Flyers win three weeks ago.
"That was on our minds," Dotson said. "My guys took that loss personal. Dixie out-played us over at our place."
This time the tables were turned. Walker Swensen, Dixie's 6-7 center, held Gubler to four points and six boards in that first meeting, but this time it was Gubler who possessed the paint. Swensen finished with just five points and four boards before fouling out late in the game.
The Tigers (13-4, 5-3) never trailed in the game. Hurricane, which came into the game averaging just 54.5 percent from the free throw line, made 11-of-14 charity shots in the fourth quarter and finished the game 16-for-22 (73 percent). Barker made 7-of-8 in the final period.
The Flyers (7-9, 3-4) scored 27 points in the fourth quarter after managing just 29 in the first three quarters combined.
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