| Thunder rout Tigers, close in on Region 9 title | 6:45 AM, Feb. 9, 2012
ST. GEORGE - Midway through, there was a sense Desert Hills was trying too hard to put an exclamation mark on things, perhaps an overemphasis in landing a decisive blow rather than steadily building an insurmountable lead.
As the game wore on the Thunder came to the conclusion that a dagger was not the most effective tool to finish the job.
Rather, repeated pricks to the heart eventually bled their longtime nemesis dry.
Desert Hills answered a stirring run by Hurricane to start the second half with a 10-0 spurt of its own, capped off by Tyler Ott's breakaway dunk as the Thunder administered a thorough dismantling of the Tigers, 59-39, at the Thunderdome Wednesday night.
"We weren't going to lose this game," said Desert Hills' Mike Needham.
It was the first time in the school's four years it had beaten Hurricane (7-3 region, 13-5 overall) while wearing the home whites, and the victory clinched at least a share of the Region 9 title.
"You never come into playing Hurricane thinking you're going to beat them like that," said Ott, who scored eight points in the decisive run and had 17 overall. "Getting a convincing win like that against a good program is definitely huge for us going into the last little part of the year."
The road is paved nicely for a deep run into the postseason. The Thunder (9-2, 17-3) are all but assured the top seed in the region and are guaranteed a home playoff game in the first round. If they get past that opponent, each of the next three games would take place just a few miles to the north at Burns Arena.
The last two times Dixie State has hosted the 3A championships, a St. George team has won - Snow Canyon in 2002, Pine View in 2007.
The Panthers' head coach five years ago: current Desert Hills mentor Steve Melessa.
"Hopefully this (win) propels us into our playoff run," Melessa said.
The Thunder weathered a few dry spells to produce what the players call their best performance of the season.
Desert Hills reported guard Brandon Simister posted a triple-double (10 points, 10 assists, 11 rebounds).
Ty Rutledge came off the bench to register nine points.
Jaden Beckstrand knocked down a pair of run-capping 3-pointers.
Josh Anderson did a terrific job in the paint against Hurricane's Boston Gubler, who scored 27 points the last time these teams met. Anderson also tallied seven points.
Needham has been a revelation late in the year. Although he doesn't go on offensive binges - he had four points this night - his defense and rebounding has proven invaluable. Twice he intercepted passes destined for two points the other way in the middle of Thunder runs.
Desert Hills also outrebounded what might have been the best rebounding team in the region - and it wasn't even close. The Thunder grabbed 38 boards - 10 offensive - while Hurricane had just 25.
"The huge thing for us was the way we outrebounded them," Melessa said. "That is something we worked on and hoped would happen."
Hurricane came into the contest the hottest team in the region, reeling off six straight wins after starting 1-2 in league play, but the Tigers couldn't seem to find any rhythm.
Colton Marshall led the Tigers with 14 points, but left six others at the foul line. Taylor Parker, who tallied 19 points last week in a crucial win against Cedar, notched just a pair Wednesday.
Trailing 22-20 with less than three minutes until halftime, Hurricane surrendered a 9-0 run to close the second quarter. The Tigers, however, showed life early in the second half, bolting out to a 11-2 start to pull to within 33-31.
Melessa had seen enough, signaling for a timeout. The free-flowing Thunder team that had bolted ahead slowed to a trickle. They began settling for jumpers, turning the ball over and losing focus defensively.
"I shot a lot of jump shots, made a lot of bad passes ... I helped dig that pit - almost single-handedly," Ott said.
Out of the timeout, the contest turned abruptly in Desert Hills' favor. In less than two minutes, the Thunder scored 10 unanswered points. All eight of Ott's points in that stretch came in the paint and Needham hit a turnaround shot off an offensive rebound.
"In the timeout, Coach told us to settle down and take care of the ball," Ott said. "He told us that was their run and we needed to make one after that."
The reward for all this was a ladder and a pair of heavy-duty scissors. Time to cut down the nets - for the second straight season.
"I could see it in all our guys' eyes, they just wanted this win more than anything," Simister said.
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