Pahranagat Valley rolls past Trinity with emerging inside presence

Junior guard Cody Hosier has already established himself as the top perimeter shooter on Pahranagat Valley’s boys basketball team.

But the emergence of senior forward Tommy Williams has added a dynamic inside-outside duo to the Panthers.

Williams had 27 points and 18 rebounds Thursday to lead Pahranagat Valley to a 68-54 win over undermanned Trinity at Mirabelli Community Center.

“Tommy’s a tough kid inside,” Panthers coach Brian Higbee said. “He’s a handful for any team we play. He’s improved, and the kids are looking to get him the basketball more.”

Hosier had 19 points, four assists and three steals for Pahranagat Valley (10-7, 2-0 Class 1A Southern League), which won its fourth straight.

“I’m not really consistent yet,” Williams said. “When I’m scoring, and Cody’s going to get his 20 or 30, I don’t think a whole lot of people can beat us.”

Trinity (7-8, 2-1) led 15-9 after a 3-pointer by Gage Neuwohner late in the first quarter, but the Panthers ended the half on a 19-9 run.

The Thunder was down to one reserve after forward Tyler Watts left the game in the second quarter after a hard fall caused by a collision.

Trinity then played the final four minutes without any bench players after leading scorer Budweiser Hawkins fouled out. Pahranagat Valley’s lead ballooned to as many as 16 points down the stretch.

“When (Watts) went down, that was a big chunk of our offense, so it hurt us a lot,” Trinity coach Keith Harris said. “When Budweiser fouled out, that made us that much weaker.

“They just beat us down the floor. There were a couple times where they got down the floor and had layups. That’s pretty much the biggest thing that hurt us, (not) getting back and stopping the ball.”

Jeremy Roemer contributed 14 points and seven rebounds for the Panthers, who used a 24-13 run in the second half to pull away.

“When you’ve got an inside-outside game like that, you’re not living and dying with the 3-point shot,” Higbee said. “It helps everything you do offensively.”

Hawkins led Trinity with 21 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Neuwohner supplied eight points and two steals.

GIRLS

Pahranagat Valley 35, Trinity 19 — At Mirabelli Community Center, Halie Lewis’ three-point play with 0.9 seconds left in the third quarter began an 11-1 run for the Panthers to end the game.

Catelyn Sanders scored eight points, and Dakota Day had six points and seven rebounds for Pahranagat Valley. Addie Canning dished out seven assists for the Panthers.

Reny Celero had six points for the Thunder.