Once again, there's no place like home for the Cedar City Redmen.
Playing before a partisan, packed house at the Centrum, defensive-minded Cedar City defeated Pine View 43-24 for its second consecutive 3A state championship Saturday."We're familiar with it and the crowd helps," admitted Cedar City coach Steve Hodson. "But, I think the key for us was just getting to the tournament. Once we got here the pressure got off our shoulders and we were able to play."
Despite losing just one starter to graduation off of last year's winning effort, the Redmen once again needed to win a play-in game just to reach the field of eight at Southern Utah University.
"There were a lot of sleepless nights getting here," said Hodson. "Given the choice of back door or front door, I'll take the front every time."
Once inside the Centrum, Cedar City methodically defeated Lehi, Dixie and finally, the Panthers in this year's title run.
And it all began with defense.
"We didn't give them second looks and that was one of the big keys," said Hodson.
The championship tilt became a test of patience with neither squad in any particular hurry to put points on the board. As evidenced, Pine View led 5-4 after one quarter before Cedar City claimed a 13-12 halftime edge.
Enter Karl Bohman.
The senior forward sparked a flurry in the second half by scoring 10 points and pulling down several pivotal rebounds.
"We didn't have to chase them anymore becuase we were ahead," said Hodson. The burst led to a 16-1 run and left Pine View without a field goal for almost 10 minutes.
Suddenly, the Redmen were up 31-14 en route to building a 19-point advantage by game's end. Solid free throw shooting also worked in Cedar City's favor -- the Redmen's last 12 points came from the line.
However, the circle of success began and ended with defense. Pine View hit just seven field goals and shot a paltry 12-of-24 from the free throw line in the contest.
"We just played man. That's our best defense," said Bohman. "Everybody deserves credit. It was a great team effort."
With standouts David Evans and Todd Garrett held somewhat in check with 8 and 7 points, respectively, Cedar City needed someone else to step forward.
"With this group it's somebody new every night," said Hodson. "It's a good basketball team."
Bohman led all scorers with 16 points, while Sam Melissa paced Pine View with 10.
"It's just nice to repeat," Bohman concluded.
And for Cedar City, there's no place like home to do it.
In consolation play:
Dixie 77, Emery 63
Robbie Rignell scored 18 points and Brandon Stilson added 16 as the Flyers toppled the Spartans in the battle for third and fourth place. Johhny Ware led Emery with 29 points, while Justin Bradley finished with 20. The Spartans entered the postseason tournament ranked No. 1 in the state.
Lehi 60, Carbon 45
Lance Magnusson's 18 points lifted the Pioneers, who were bolstered by 14 points from Jason Allan, to a fifth-place finish with a win over the Dinosaurs. Ryan O'Shea topped Carbon, which placed sixth, with 13.