By Dave Belcher
Moapa Valley Progress
MVHS Girls Basketball
The Moapa Valley Lady Pirates Basketball season has begun. The team starts its regular season at home tomorrow night when they host Sunrise Mountain at 6:00 p.m.
This year’s team returns 1st team all-league player Ashley Noto (Sr.) and all-league 2nd teamer Hanna Leavitt. The team loses leading rebounder Amanda Campbell as she moved with her family to Utah.
The Pirates finished 3rd in the league last season with a record of 10-12.
Noto lead the Pirates in scoring with 9.3 points per game. She led the team in three point baskets with 14.
Leavitt scored 5 points a game and runs the Pirate offense from the point.
Moapa is going to be a small team and will require the use of speed in order to win their games. Their schedule is tough and is loaded with 4A schools.
The Lady Pirates will have to learn to make free throws if they plan on succeeding this season. Last year the Pirates shot only 46.7% from the line.
Girls Southern 3-A
Boulder City will be the favorite in the south this year. They return Taylor McKeever, Karlee Koopman and Mallory Bird who were all first team all-league players last season. Virgin Valley and Moapa Valley will battle it out for second and third place unless they can upset the Eagles.
Virgin Valley is coming off a 20-6 season and lost League MVP Rachel Morris, 1st teamers Madison Bowler and Jenelle Weythman. Second teamers Nikkie Arquette and Cassidy Crandell will return to lead the Bulldogs this season. Each of those girls averaged about 4 points per game last season.
The Bulldogs’ height will come from Freshman Kourtney Metzger who is 6’4”.
Girls Northern 3A
In the Ruby Mountain league Spring Creek (9-1) finished first last year with White Pine (7-3), Elko (6-4), Lowry (4-6), Battle Mountain (4-6), and West Wendover (0-10).
Last year Spring Creek continued to dominate the 3A as they beat Virgin Valley in the state Championship game 51-37. They have won two of the last three State Championships having lost two years ago to Lowry 35-34 in a big time upset.
Lowry lost three from last year and return a team with lots of experience and playing time. Their leader will be Zuleika Grinsell who averaged 7 points a game. Kyla Siri and Madison Estes will also make major contributions in the Spartans run this year.
In the Mount Rose League Truckee went a perfect 10-0 in league and 17-7 overall. They finished their season losing to Spring Creek in the state semi-final 49-37. They lost seven girls from last season’s team but return leading rebounder and scorer 6-3 Aleigh Krug. They will be the favorites again in their league.
Incline was 2nd at 8-2 followed by Sparks 4-4, Whittle 2-6, South Tahoe then North Tahoe.
In the Lahotan League the 2A Pershing County Mustangs won the league as they went undefeated 10-0 Fernley and Fallon 7-3 were tied for second. The Green Wave of Fallon represented and advanced to the state semi-finals where they lost to Virgin Valley 46-21. The third 3A school was Dayton who was 0-10.
MVHS Boys Basketball
As the defending state champions, the Pirates return two players from last season who played significant time for the Pirates. One of them, Dakota Watters, will miss the first half of the season due to the football injury that kept him out of the state football championship game. The other is Shane Terrill.
Moapa will need to use speed and quickness and the three point line if they are to return to the finals. Ben Stanley and Jackson Mortenson will be the Pirates height at 6’2” apiece. Ben saw some action last season until a season ending injury put him on the bench.
Jake Rebman is the other senior on this year’s team. The rest are juniors.
The Pirates open their season tomorrow night in Las Vegas at Sunrise Mountain then host the Pine View Panthers from St George, Utah on Friday night for the home season opener.
Last season the Pirates finished 17-11 and 2-2 in league. They beat both Boulder City and Virgin Valley in the league tournament to qualify for the state tournament.
Then they came from behind to beat South Tahoe in overtime in the state semi-final and brought home the Pirates eighth State title in their 68-56 win over Lowry.
Boys Southern 3A
Virgin Valley finished the season 15-10 and 4-0 in league play. They lost seven of their ten players to graduation from last season’s team.
Dee Bowler, Humberto Urias and Nolan Tanner return as the Bulldogs will try and put together a championship run. They start the season against Pine View then Chaparral.
Boulder City returns Nate Hafen who scored 15 points a game for the Eagles and was first team all-league. They return 6 others from their team last year that went 8-13 overall and 0-4 in league.
The league is up for grabs as any team could win the trip to Reno at the end of February for a chance at the state championship.
Boys Northern 3A
In the Ruby Mountain League it was Lowry the state runner up who went undefeated at 10-0 in the league. Elko finished 2nd at 8-2, West Wendover was 6-4, Battle Mountain was 3-7, Spring Creek was 2-8 and White Pine was 1-9.
Lowry lost eight of their thirteen players from last year’s team including Sterling Snow the league MVP and 6’2” Will Thacker who dominated the middle.
Elko lost the two top scores and three other members of last year’s team to graduation.
Spring Creek returns nine of thirteen members of last season’s team which may make them the favorite to win the league. Their top scorer graduated but the rest is still there.
In the Mount Rose League 2A Incline won it at 8-2 with Sparks finishing 2nd at 7-2, then Truckee at 5-4, South Tahoe won the 3A tourney and lost to the Pirates in the semi-final but finished third in the league at 5-5.
South Tahoe lost six of their eleven players from last year’s team including Peter Pielaet-strayer. They return one of the tallest teams in the 3A with two 6’4” juniors coming in.
Truckee lost all but two players from last season. Those left are Clayton O’Connel and 6’5” Trent McMullen. McMullen averaged 7 points a game with O’Connel scoring 3 a game. They averaged 39 points as a game last season as a team.
Sparks will be the favorites this year to win this league championship. They return seven seniors two 6’2”, two 6’3” and 6’5” Darius Devine. They could win the whole thing with their size and experience returning. They won the state title two years ago.
In the Lahontan League Dayton was 11-1 and won the regular season title.
Fallon finished 2nd at 9-3 with Yerington 9-3 also. ROP finished 6-6 and Pershing County 5-7. Fernley was 2-10 with Silver Stage winless at 0-12.
Dayton lost five seniors and will return seven from last season’s team.
Dylan Taylor returns as a senior this year. He scored 18 points per game last season. Their only league loss last season came against Truckee in Truckee. They also lost at Elko and Spring Creek in nonleague games.
Nine of Fallon’s fifteen graduated last season including their scorers. They lost twice to Dayton each time by two points.
Fernley won only 4 games last season total. Cade Knutson returns with his 17 points a game from last season. The team graduated seven from their team last year. This league will go to either Dayton or Fallon.
All in all, the 3A should be a very tough league. There are several teams who can win the state title with no clear cut favorite.
