Dixie and the Panthers are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2020, but not for long. The Dixie Flyers will head out on the road to square off against the Pine View Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Dixie focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 17 on Tuesday.
After soaring to a 33-point win in their last game, Dixie came back down to earth on Tuesday. They fell just short of Hurricane by a score of 37-34.
Despite the defeat, Dixie had strong showings from Kealah Faumuina, who scored 14 points along with seven rebounds and two steals, and Hali Smith, who scored seven points along with eight steals and six rebounds. Smith is crushing the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season.
Meanwhile, Pine View's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their third straight defeat. They took a 60-46 bruising from Snow Canyon. While losing is never fun, Pine View can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Utah basketball rankings (they are ranked 91st, while the Warriors are ranked fourth).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Hayden Harris, who scored 16 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points she has scored all season. Reese Gustin was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with seven assists and seven rebounds.
Even though they lost, Pine View were working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Dixie now has a losing record at 9-10. As for Pine View, their defeat was their third straight at home, which dropped their record down to 4-15.
Keep an eye on the arc in Tuesday's matchup: Dixie have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 37.6% of their threes per game. It's a different story for Pine View, though, as they've only made 28.5% of their threes this season. Given Dixie's sizable advantage in that area, the Panthers will need to find a way to close that gap.
Dixie was able to grind out a solid victory over the Panthers in their previous meeting back in January, winning 54-46. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Gustin, who scored 15 points along with six steals. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Dixie still be able to contain Gustin? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
