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Panthers Look to Hurricane Game Before Final Season Stretch
By Layne Roberts
Though the game is a 3A/4A matchup, tomorrow’s Hurricane-Pine View game could prove to be crucial for both teams.
While the Pine View Panthers will still play Snow Canyon twice (Feb. 13 and Feb. 21) to close out their season, the Hurricane Tigers will close out the regular season tomorrow when the game tips off in Hurricane at 7 p.m.
The game will feature a clash of styles. While the Panthers are second in scoring offense in 4A, averaging just under 64 points each contest, Hurricane leads 3A in scoring defense, allowing just over 44 points per game.
Though they had won their previous seven games, five of which were region games, Pine View has dropped dramatically in the polls after losing to Cedar (55-68) in their final January contest.
“Cedar is a good team. They played us very well and we lost. That is what is going to happen when we are outcoached and outplayed,” Pine View head coach Steve Melessa said.
Though the Panthers will be playing in the playoffs, things may not be as good as some may have thought for the Panthers.
“Winning can mask problems sometimes. We need to improve. We have been winning, but we have never really put a full basketball game together – maybe three quarters, but not a full four,” coach Melessa said.
The game could prove to be the jumpstart the team needs as they head into their extremely important games against rival Snow Canyon, who now is the Region 9 leader and ranked fourth in 4A, at press time.
“We are just trying to concentrate on what happens each game,” coach Melessa said. “It is really important to end on a high note. Every coach wants that. You want to be playing your best basketball at the end of the year.”
“We really peaked at the right time last year. We started playing team basketball in the second half of region play, and it carried over into the state tournament. That is what you want,” coach Melessa said of last year’s Panther state-championship season.
Considering that Hurricane gave Pine View a good game last time around, when the Panthers prevailed at home 54-43 on Jan. 23, this could be even a closer game when the two meet in Hurricane.
“It will be a tough game. It is always hard to win at Hurricane. They will be preparing for the playoffs, and they are a physical team. They are not very big, but most of those kids play football too,” Melessa said of the Tigers.
Melessa is right, and though they’re young, with only one senior on the team, they are also a very close-knit group.
“Every kid in our basketball program (31 kids) plays football. This gives them more game experience, a little more game savvy. They are hard workers,” Hurricane Tigers head coach Gordon Dotson said.
The Tigers also have family ties, with junior Jase Langston and junior Gordie Dotson being first cousins, and they are also the quarterback-running back tandem for the football team.
The Tigers rely heavily on Langston and Gordie Dotson, as well as standout sophomore Zach Sorenson, who averages over 10 points each game. The three of them combine for over 50 percent of the Tigers’ offense.
Sorenson, regarded as one of the school’s best players in recent years, is credited for his court vision as well as three-point, and driving abilities.
“He is probably the best player I have ever coached. We are very grateful to have him. (Defensively) he can lock down just about anybody,” Dotson said.
In their last meeting, the Panthers were unable to pull away for good until the final minutes of the game, and the key for the Tigers this time will be again to not allow the Panthers to go on any big runs.
“Because we are so young, we have gone up and down, but our effort level has gone up to (a full) 32 minutes a game. We are taking care of the ball better and shooting a lot better,” coach Dotson said.
“Pine View has all the ingredients. They are a team (that) you cannot let your guard down against. They will go on a 10-0 run,” Dotson said.
The Panthers, meanwhile, still have four of their five starters averaging double-digit points per game and a fifth player just a point and a half shy.
Melessa indicated that although the Panthers have a good record, they will need to improve their overall team defense, rebounding, as well as their intensity and hustle levels down the stretch.
The Panthers have won six consecutive games against the Tigers and the last two games played in Hurricane. The Tigers last beat the Panthers at home 44-42 in January 2005.

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