By Tom Zulewski, Iron County Today
As her team celebrated the moment around her, Canyon View head coach Jaycee Barnhurst was ready to jump into the huddle and embrace a special achievement. It wasn’t easy, but the Falcons made the shots when they mattered and when the final horn sounded, history was made.
Erin Hallows and Tayla Blackner scored 11 points each, and Canyon View beat the Juab Wasps, 43-38 on Jan. 29 as Barnhurst became the first basketball coach in school history with 100 victories. Complete with balloons that flew down from the upper level of the Nest. a banner that congratulated her on the milestone moment, and a plaque with the number in raised letters, Barnhurst reflected on the achievement.
“I think we’ve all stuck around so long – (Steve) Newman has been with me since the beginning, Rob (Potter) has been with me for four years – because we can see so much potential in all of these kids. It’s hard to be done when they’re there every day, work hard, and they’re good kids.”
Juab (1-6 Region 14, 4-14 overall) led 11-8 late in the first quarter, but Potter scored five straight points to finish off an 11-0 run that carried over into the second and gave CV (4-2, 12-10) a 19-11 advantage, its largest of the night.
Cambry Hall, who led all scorers with 13 points, hit one of her three 3-pointers later in the period to jump-start an 7-1 surge as the Wasps closed within 20-18 at the half. After six first-quarter lead changes, the Falcons were able to stay in front throughout the second half.
“We just couldn’t get into a rhythm,” Barnhurst said. “Good minutes, then bad minutes. Props to Juab. I don’t think we expected them to do some of the things they did. It took us a while to adjust and put the ball in the net.”
Mollie Blakenagel added 10 points for Juab in the loss. The Wasps finished 5-of-11 from the free-throw line while the Falcons were 10-of-18.
In Canyon View’s first game of the week, Delta came to the Nest on Jan. 27 and left with the Region 14 title after a 64-52 victory. The top-ranked Rabbits are 7-0 in region and 18-2 overall.
Madison Eliason led all scorers with 28 points for the Rabbits, who led 34-24 at halftime and kept the margin steady the rest of the way.
Hallows led CV with 21 points in the loss and Tory Taylor added 12. The Falcons faced a road game at Richfield on Tuesday and will close the regular season at home for Senior Night with a game against Providence Hall on Thursday.
The first round of the 3A state basketball tournament happens Feb. 14 with games at home sites before heading to America First Events Center for games from Feb. 19-21.
CANYON VIEW 43 JUAB 38
Juab: 11, 7, 9, 11 – 38
Canyon View: 14, 6, 11, 12 – 43
Juab – Welch 2, Halvorson 6, Hall 13, Blakenagel 10, Olsen 6, Garrett 1. Totals 14 5-11 38. 3-pointers – Hall 3, Blakenagel 2.
Canyon View – Hallows 11, Taylor 3, King 6, Potter 8, Blackner 11, Bailey 4. Totals 15 10-18 43. 3-pointers – Taylor 1, Potter 2.
