By Dave Belcher

Moapa Valley Progress

3A Boys

The top ranked Sparks played one game last week against the Wooster Colts and won 59-42.

Sparks held Wooster to 4 points in the second quarter and opened up a 10 point lead at the half. This week the Railroaders will travel to Dayton and play the first league game of the year for both teams. Sparks is 8-2 on the season thus far.

Lowry is the second ranked team in the state and has a record of 8-3. They didn’t play a game last week but will travel to McDermitt and then will host Dayton in the league opener for the Buckaroos.

Dayton is ranked third and will have a very tough league schedule this week playing Winnemucca and Truckee. Dayton’s record stands at 7-3.

Boulder City is the 4th ranked team in the state and the top ranked team in the south. Their record is 11-6 coming off a week in Southern California where they were 2-2 in the Paloma Valley tournament.

The four day tournament placed the Eagles against West Valley of Hemet (CA) first. Hemet is 6-3 on the season and won a very close game against the Eagles 50-46.

On Wednesday the Eagles challenged the Vista Murrieta Broncos but ended up ten points short in the 64-54 loss. Boulder fell 7 points behind after the 1st quarter and could not get any closer during the game.

Morgan had 12 points followed by Hernandez’s 11 for the Eagles.

Thursdays game placed the Eagles in a battle with Blair High School from Pasadena. After falling behind by three points after the first quarter, the Eagles erupted for 18 points and held Blair to 7 points in the second quarter taking an 8 point lead. Blair cut the lead to five after the third then Boulder got hot and outscored Blair 23-17 in the fourth for the 66-55 win. Morgan led the Eagles with 22 points.

On Friday the Eagles played the home town Paloma Valley and won a barn burner 53-48. Boulder took a 1 point lead and held it to the fourth when they outscored Paloma Valley 14-10. Hafen lead the Eagles with 16 points.

This week Boulder City will host Del Sol, Bonanza then Moapa Valley in the first league game for both teams. That winner will hold the position of 1st place in the south.

Elko is fifth and played four games last week in the Bishop California Tournament winning all four. The Indians started out beating Workman High School on Tuesday 51-42. Then they destroyed Tonopah 80-10 followed by beating host Bishop High School 64-40 on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Indians beat Rio Hondo prep in the finals 57-46. Elko finished the week at 7-5 over all on the season.

Virgin Valley sits in the sixth spot in the state as they took a break during the Christmas holidays. They come back this week hosting the Rancho Rams then travel to Mohave to tangle with the Rattlers at the end of the week. The Bulldogs are 7-6 on the season.

Fernley was also out for the holidays where they await a meeting with South Tahoe and Lowry this week. They are 5-6.

Truckee is in seventh, has a record of 4-5 and will play Dayton this Friday. They have been off this past week.

South Tahoe is 3-8 coming home from the San Pedro Pirate Classic having gone 2-2. The Vikings beat Harbor Teachers Prep 64-42. They lost to Palos Verdes peninsula 67-24 then beat Wilson of Los Angeles 63-51 and finished off the week losing to Locke of Los Angeles 67-54. The Vikings travel to Fallon then to Sparks and finish off the busy week at home against Fernley.

Fallon is 2-6 and currently on a six game losing streak. Their last game was on Dec. 17 and their next game is tonight hosting South Tahoe. They make the east ward trek Friday and Saturday in Elko then Spring Creek.

Spring Creek follows Fallon and is 2-7 thus far. They travelled south last week and played in the Las Vegas Prep Championship. Their first game was against Palos Verdes where they got hammered 70-23. On Tuesday they played a double header first against Clark who won 69-43 then Tuesday afternoon the Spartans played Sierra Vista and were beaten 73-45. On Wednesday the Spartans won the game against Las Vegas J.V. 57-38 to make the trip home a little more pleasant. This week Spring Creek hosts Fallon on Saturday as their only game this week.

Our beloved Pirates bring up the rear with a record of 1-12.

3A Girls

Lowry sits atop the 3A girls with a perfect 9-0 record and has enjoyed the last week off before hosting Dayton on Friday and Fernley on Saturday.

In the second spot on the girls list is Fernley at 9-2 and also didn’t play last week. They host Truckee tonight and travel to South Tahoe on Friday and to Lowry on Saturday for a tough battle with the undefeated Buckaroos.

In third comes Boulder City with a 12-4 record. They rested up for this week’s games which includes their first league game against the Pirates. The winner owning sole possession of first place. They also play Del Sol tonight at home.

Dayton is 7-4 and is in fourth position and hosts Sparks tonight then travels to Lowry Friday and Truckee on Saturday.

Virgin Valley is next with their record of 8-4. Having taken the holiday off the Bulldogs are prepared for a trip to Rancho tonight and a home game against Mojave Friday night.

Fallon has a record of 4-5. This weekend Fallon travels to Spring Creek and Elko for a Friday and Saturday matchup all following Wednesdays game at home with Sparks.

Spring Creek is starting to pick up steam as they get to the midway point of the season. The defending state champions traveled to Las Vegas and participated in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic where they handled the opposition well going 3-2. They started the tournament playing Douglas from Minden and beat the Tigers 40-24. For the afternoon game Spring Creek faced Highland from Arizona as the Spartans were beaten 61-56 in a close game all the way through. On Thursday the Spartans played the Liberty Patriots from Las Vegas and received their second loss of the tournament losing 48-34. The afternoon game saw the Spartans beat the Western Warriors 58-34 then finished the tourney on Friday by beating the Valley Vikings 51-46. Spring Creek travels to Fallon on Friday.

Truckee is 1-2 so far on the season and after having the holiday off they will play four games this week starting with Fernley in Fernley then hosting North Valleys of Reno on Thursday followed by a trip to McQueen in Reno on Friday. Then they finish the week against Dayton at home Saturday.

Elko is 3-7 and will be hosting Lovelock and Fallon this week.

Next come the Lady Pirates at 4-11.

South Tahoe is 2-6 and plays Fallon, Sparks and Fernley this week.

Sparks is winless and will play Dayton and South Tahoe this week.