By Jon Gilbert

| Special to the Tribune

West’s rally falls short against Hunter

The Panthers entered the fourth quarter against Hunter trailing 38-27 and made a solid comeback try but ended up losing 55-49. Denzel Latu led West with 16 points, Halani Olive had eight points and 14 rebounds and Devin Price had eight points and 10 rebounds. The loss secured Hunter’s place ahead of West in the Region 2 standings.

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Highland avenges rivalry loss

They didn’t stop East’s Parker Van Dyke, who scored 27 points, but the Highland Rams stopped everyone else East put on the floor in a 57-44 win Feb. 17. David Divver went off for 25 points — including three 3-pointers — and Max Bradshaw dumped in 11 points. The win put Highland in second place in Region 6. It also helped the Rams get back on top of East, which beat them Jan. 27.

East hoping for a return to the playoffs

The Leopards didn’t make the playoffs last season, but it looks like they’ll be in for the second time in three seasons. Before making the playoffs two seasons ago, the last time East was in the postseason was 2003. Thanks to a consistent season from Parker Van Dyke and others stepping up in the right moments, the Leopards will be a scary first-round matchup.

Judge Memorial suffers shocking playoff defeat

It looked like the Judge Bulldogs were primed to make another run to the 3A classification championship game. But Dixie shut down those ideas by beating Judge 46-41 on Saturday in the first round of the state tournament. Judge led by eight points with 3:20 remaining but succumbed to a 13-0 Dixie run to end the game. Jacob Gondrezick led Judge with 16 points and Alex Mancini scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Gondrezick and Mancini were one of the state’s top point guards and postmen, respectively, in 3A.

Park City eliminated in first round

The Miners stressed finishing in the top two in Region 10 to avoid traveling to a Region 9 team’s place in the first-round of the 3A classification state tournament. Their nightmare came true as they finished in third place and lost to Hurricane 63-50 on Feb. 18. Britton Buford led Park City with 20 points, and Jordan Ruda added 13 points.

Rowland Hall bounced in first round of the playoffs

First, Rowland Hall earned a spot in the 2A classification state tournament by beating Maeser Prep 44-27 in a play-in game Feb. 15. Wesley Austin had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Winged Lions. The first-round game against Wasatch Academy on Feb. 18, however, didn’t go as well. Rowland Hall lost 61-35. Austin scored 13 points and Christopher Nkoy added eight points.