With the end of the regular season rapidly approaching, the Carbon Dinos took the court on Wednesday, Feb. 5, as the Canyon View Falcons came to town for a region rematch. Following a Jan. 10 showdown which saw Carbon fall to the Falcons 79-37 in Cedar City, the Dinos battled a top 3a team to the final buzzer before dropping the close region contest 58-54.
Opening the game Carbon would shock Canyon View by jumping out to an 11-3 advantage midway through the first. However, Senior Felps Sanders for the Falcons would answer back in a big way, scoring eight points in two minutes to cut into the Dinos’ lead. But a balanced scoring attack from Cannon Mortensen and Logan Bennet would help Carbon maintain their lead and end the period up 18-12.
Sanders would continue his dominance in the second quarter, putting up 11 in the frame. Bennett continued to score for the Dinos with Evan Lancaster getting in on the fun, contributing five in the second. Sanders’ outburst would aid Canyon View as they took the lead in the waning moments of the half and went to the locker room up 30-29.
Coming out of the break both teams continued to battle. Kyler Orth would find his stroke from the floor as he put up four, as did fellow junior Carter Warburton, whose aggressive defense and stellar court vision set teammates up for easy points. Despite this, the Falcons would outscore the Dinos by three in the period, helping them secure a 46-42 lead heading into the final frame.
In the fourth quarter, both squads fought to gain an edge over the other, with the Dinos bringing it within a single point as play progressed. However, with 12 seconds left in the contest Canyon View sophomore Jeter Sanders would step to the line with the Falcons up by two. With ice in his veins, the sophomore would sink both free throws and create an insurmountable advantage as the final buzzer sounded as Canyon View escaped with a 58-54 win.
For the Dinos, Mortensen ended with 13. Close behind him was Bennett with 12. Ty Mortensen would close with 10, Evan Lancaster with seven, Kyler Orth with six and Carter Warburton finished with four.
The loss moves Carbon to 4-18 on the season and 1-12 in region play. They now look ahead to the final game of the regular season as they celebrate senior night on Friday, Feb. 7 against the North Sanpete Hawks (3-15, 2-10 Region 12). The Hawks are coming off a close 57-52 defeat against the Emery Spartans.
Live play-by-play coverage for that contest will begin Friday at 6:30 p.m. on KRPX 95.3 the Peak with the Landon’s Diesel Service Pregame Show with tipoff to follow at 7 p.m. You can also follow along with the Dinos virtual scoreboard on YouTube at Castle Country Sports- Carbon.