Hosier heats up, carries Pahranagat Valley to title

Cody Hosier couldn't have been colder in the first half of Saturday's Class 1A state boys championship game.

And then, suddenly, he couldn't have been hotter.

The Pahranagat Valley senior missed nine consecutive shots in the first half of the Panthers' game against Virginia City.

But the switch flipped to on in a heartbeat.

Hosier drained seven of his next eight shots -- five of them 3-pointers -- and helped the Panthers win their second straight state title with a 61-44 victory.

"Ice cold is an understatement," Pahranagat Valley coach Brian Higbee said of his senior point guard, who finished with 25 points. "Nobody was shooting very well."

Hosier had three points on his first 10 shots, hitting a 3 to start the game and missing everything he took for the next 13 minutes.

Another 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the second quarter helped Hosier find both his range and his confidence.

He never lost either. And it opened up the paint for Pahranagat Valley (26-4).

"We got really aggressive into the paint," Higbee said. "In the first half, if we would have hit some of those (outside shots), it would have been the same thing. It opens up the inside for us. When they had to go man (defense) against us, I knew it was over."

The senior, also the quarterback on the school's state championship football team, buried four treys in the second half and helped the Panthers rally from a 32-27 deficit midway through the third quarter.

A questionable charging call against Virginia City's Ryan Conners also helped Pahranagat Valley.

What could have been a three-point play for the Muckers (22-10) turned into a turnover.

"Big, big ... that was big," Higbee said. "It was a turning point. We needed a lift defensively. We overwhelmed them in the second half."

A 3-pointer by Hosier to finish the third quarter -- on a deep shot from the right wing -- with 1.5 seconds left gave the Panthers a 38-37 lead. They never relinquished it.

The defensive lift from that charging call carried over as the Panthers allowed only two field goals in the fourth quarter and turned the game into a rout.

Chase Hansen came off the bench to add 11 points for Pahranagat Valley, and teammate Jeremy Roemer had 10 rebounds.

Ethan Huffman led Virginia City with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Zach Shell added 14 points for the Muckers.

Contact reporter Bartt Davis at bdavis@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5230.