10:20 AM, Jan. 12, 2012
| CEDAR CITY - The Cedar Reds had struggled through most of the game to solve the Hurricane Tigers. A 10-point third quarter deficit had evaporated, yet the home team was still in search of a hero.
The unlikeliest one of all was more than happy to embrace the challenge and get the Reds into the win column.
Senior Breylin Blackner got inside for a layup with only two seconds left, and Cedar rallied to shock Hurricane in a 38-36 victory Tuesday to even its Region 9 record at 2-2 (9-4 overall).
Blackner finished with four points, and the winning basket was his only field goal of the game.
"The play was for Kyler (Nielson) to come off a screen, but they cheated on that, so I went one-on-one with (Boston Gubler)," Blackner said. "This win was huge."
Cedar trailed by 10 at 31-21 midway through the third quarter, but got a pair of big shots to close the period with a 10-2 run. Nielson, who finished with a game-leading 17 points, drained a 3-pointer and Trent Snow added three free throws after getting fouled from behind the long-distance line.
With the score 33-31 as the fourth quarter began, there wouldn't be much in the way of offense over the final eight minutes. The Tigers' only points came from Boston Gubler via three free throws, the last knotting the game at 36 with 2:21 left.
The Reds promptly took the air out of the ball and after a pair of timeouts - the last with 28 seconds on the clock - set up for the winning shot.
With Gubler saddled with four fouls, it was no mystery where the ball was headed.
"We never thought Breylin Blackner would be the hero, especially going against the best big guy in the region," Cedar assistant coach Mark Esplin said. "Breylin made a big play.
"We had a chance to get run out of the gym tonight, but we did what we needed to do to come back."
For the Tigers, the frustration of losing a double-digit third-quarter lead and falling to 1-2 in Region 9 play (7-4 overall) was definitely apparent.
"With Cedar at home, we expected them to come out with a great deal of intensity," Hurricane coach Bryan Vaifanua said. "We weren't finishing our shots. ... We defended till the end, but we needed to make a stop any way we could."
Weston Yardley led the Tigers with 13 points, 10 in the first half. The Tigers led by eight in the final minute, but the Reds hit five straight free throws in the final 21 seconds - three from Nielson when he was fouled at the buzzer - to close the gap to 24-21 at the break.
Yardley scored his only points after intermission on his third 3-pointer of the game as part of a 7-0 third-quarter run that helped push Hurricane's lead to its largest of the night.
Snow added 10 points to help the Cedar effort. The Reds made two fewer field goals than the Tigers (12-10), but enjoyed a 27-11 advantage in free throw attempts, making 16.
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