High school boys basketball: Balanced scoring distribution leads Dixie to quarterfinal win over Green Canyon

OGDEN — After the first quarter of Thursday’s 4A boys basketball state quarterfinal battle, the No. 2 Dixie Flyers led No. 10-seeded Green Canyon by just two points. The Flyers were still shaking off the nerves of playing on the big stage at Weber State.

“If we can get through the first quarter, then we’ll be fine,” Dixie head coach Tyler Roberts said.

The environment is different for Dixie at Weber State’s Dee Events Center, but Roberts tried to prepare his team as much as possible.

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“As you come up here and you prepare all that time, because you have a week to prepare, the biggest thing is just making sure guys are prepared and they know personnel on the other team. Getting up here to this environment is just different, playing on a bigger court,” Dixie head coach Tyler Roberts said.

Dixie 61, Green Canyon 45

(Box score)

Leading scorers:

Dixie: Isaac Finlinson, 13

Green Canyon: McKay Torgason, 26

The Flyers even got to chat with some Weber State basketball players in the Wildcats’ locker room.

“When we walked in, there were still some of their players in there. That was kind of fun, they were saying good luck to the guys,” Roberts said. “You want to give these guys the opportunity to feel this. That’s what we play for.”

After early jitters, the Flyers settled down and got back to playing their game. From the first period on, Dixie outscored Green Canyon 51-37, winning 61-45.

The Flyers came alive in the second quarter as they outscored the Wolves 16-7 and took full control of the game. Dixie’s scoring was very distributed, with Isaac Finlinson scoring 13 points, Ethan Bennett scoring 12, Jordan Matthews scoring nine points and Noah Lemke scoring eight points. McKay Yorgason was fantastic for Green Canyon with 26 points.

“That’s been our goal all year, trying to get five or so guys that can score each and every night. I think that’s what’s special about this team is they’re very unselfish. Sometimes, you’ll look at box scores, it’s a different guy each night,” Roberts said.

Finlinson led the Flyers in scoring and added four rebounds. 

“Isaac’s Issac, he’s going to get his points, even being denied tonight — that was tough on Isaac. We had seen it the game before, so we prepared for it, but Isaac wasn’t going to get 17-20. It had to come from someone else and Bennett ending up coming in and helping us in that arena. Noah and Jordan had some points too to help us,” Roberts said. 

Lemke had four blocks for Dixie and was a force inside. 

“Noah is the real deal. People don’t want to go in the paint, first of all, because he’s in there. His presence is big,” Roberts said.

The Flyers were excellent in transition, which is a strength of Dixie’s offense.

“We pushed it, we let off a little bit and then we tried to push it again, which extended that lead from 10 up to 16-17. Transition is a huge part of our game,” Roberts said.