3A State Playoffs, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 27, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News
CEDAR CITY – Taylor Gordon and Jacey Dunn. The Hurricane Lady Tigers will have a hard time forgetting those two names.
The dynamic duo from North Sanpete burned Hurricane for the third time this season, combining for XX points and sending the the Tigers out of the 3A State Tournament Thursday night in a 48-37 rout at SUU’s Centrum Arena.
Gordon’s slashing style and 3-point shooting and Dunn’s midrange set shot were just about all the Lady Hawks needed to keep Hurricane at bay on a cold-shooting night for the Tigers.
Hurricane managed just six points in each of the first two quarters and fell behind 22-12 at the half. With Gordon warming up the rim in the third quarter, the lead ballooned to 33-17 before the Tigers finally started to hit some shots.
Getting that early lead just kind of took some weight off of us,” said NS coach Randi Griffith. “It let us go out there and just play relaxed and play better defense.”
Behind a pair of 3-pointers from Madi Hall, Hurricane was able to pull within 35-25 late in the third quarter and even got within nine at 40-31 with five minutes left in the game after a basket by Shania Hurst. But Dunn hit a jumper and Gordon drove the lane for two and the lead was back to 13 and the game was pretty much over, especially when Hurricane leading-scorer Brooklyn Gubler fouled out moments later.
It was a rough night for the senior Gubler, who averaged 16 a game this season. She managed just a pair of free throws in the game, though teammates Hall and Hurst had her back with 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Gordon (17 points) and Dunn (11) will lead the Hawks into the semifinals to play the Morgan-Stansbury winner at 4:10 p.m.
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Hurricane Guard Shania Hurst chases down a rebound against North Sanpete during the 3A State Playoffs, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 27, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News
3A State Playoffs, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 27, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News
Hurricanes Brooklyn Gubler drives to the hoop against North Sanpete during the 3A State Playoffs, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 27, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News
Brooklyn Gubler-3A State Playoffs, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 27, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News
Hurricanes Brooklyn Gubler makes a strong move against North Sanpete during the 3A State Playoffs, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 27, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News
Hurricane guard Madi Hall brings the ball up the court during the 3A State Playoffs, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 27, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News
Shania Hurst rips the ball away from a North Sanpete player during the 3A State Playoffs, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 27, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News
Morgan Huntsman-3A State Playoffs, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 27, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andy Griffin has been in sports media since 1989 and has covered BYU, Utah State and the Utah Jazz as well as all sports in southern Utah. A journalism graduate of USU, Andy has carried on a dual career as both a sports writer and a sports broadcaster and has been heard around the country. He has also been published in USA Today, Sport magazine, The Sporting News, Fairways magazine, the Los Angeles Times and locally in the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Spectrum. Andy was “The Voice of Region 9 sports,” for many years. He also hosted a daily sports talk show for three years called AG in the a.m.
Andy has been married to his college sweetheart Shelly for 28 years and has five children ages 13 to 25.