Defensive focus and balanced scoring leads to bounce-back win for Snow Canyon
After falling to Cedar last Friday for their first loss on the season, the Snow Canyon Warriors (17-1, 6-1) looked refocused and revitalized in their 55-44 win on the road over Crimson Cliffs (11-5, 5-2).
Snow Canyon gave up a season-high 62 points against Cedar last Friday, but the Warrior defense rebounded and made life difficult on the Mustangs, who have now lost two straight games.
Head Coach Doug Meacham said his club had a pair of good practices on Monday and Tuesday which set the tone in tonight's win.
"For me, that's where you find out about your guys' character," Meacham said. "The practices on Monday and Tuesday were two of our best. That told me a lot about us. That's what I tell our guys: 'when you're green, you're going, when you're red, you're ripe' and right now we're still green."
Meacham noticed an uptick in intensity.
While the defensive energy for Snow Canyon was high early in the game, Snow Canyon's offense struggled, unable to convert on open looks from outside and at the time.
"I just know that our guys, they're competitive," said Meacham. "In practices, we divide our guys and it's pretty cutthroat and guys are going at it and there's kind of no mercy."
Only a tough finish by Owen Mackay at the end of the first quarter gave Snow Canyon a 10-9 lead after a quarter.
As Snow Canyon's offense started to find its groove, its defensive efforts continued to improve, limiting Crimson Cliffs to just six points in the quarter.
The Mustangs' leading scorer Hudson Hawes was held scoreless in the first half and was afforded no clean looks.
Two weeks ago, Hawes played hero for Crimson Cliffs in a thrilling overtime win over Dixie.
Hawes scored a career-high 28 points and hit the game-winner in overtime.
Hawes tagged Dixie for six threes as well.
On Wednesday against Snow Canyon, the senior guard was held to a season-low two points. Hawes' only basket was the first score of the second half.
"Just being in his bubble," Meacham said of the game plan to slow down Hawes. "We were there on his catch... He's a guy that can get hot in a hurry. We were just aware of where he was at and that was a good defensive focus for us."
It was only the third time all season Hawes was held under double figures for the pre-season Region 10 Co-MVP.
With Hawes struggling to find any space, the Warriors saw their lead build up to as large as 18 in the third quarter.
Mackay and Lyman Simmons each had 16 points to lead the offensive charge for Snow Canyon.
The sophomore Mackay continues to improve and impress.
"He's knowing that he needs to stay aggressive," Meacham said. "He just knows how to move without the ball. That's the biggest compliment I can pay him—that he can back-cut when he needs to and he can attack in transition when he needs to. I love his court vision right now and that's helping us in a big way."
Bowen Hammer added 11 for the
Mackay has tallied double figures in five of the last six games.
Jackson McKone had a game-high 18 for Crimson Cliffs.
Sean Ellertson is a sports reporter for the St. George Spectrum & Daily News. To continue to support his work, please subscribe to The Spectrum. Follow Sean on Twitter @SeanEllertson.
This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: Defensive focus, balanced scoring lead to bounceback win for Snow Canyon
