By DAVE BELCHER
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley High School Boys Basketball team had a rough second week of the season. They played four games and lost all four of them.
The Pirate team started the week in Las Vegas with a 46-41 loss against Mountain View. Moapa Valley took a 13-9 lead during the 1st quarter as they held Mountain View to 9 points. The second quarter saw Moapa Valley go cold and score just 3 points in the 2nd quarter as the Saints took a 17-16 lead at half time.
The Pirates struggled shooting as they made 14 field goals with six 3-pointers for the game. They made just 7-17 free throws to add to the aggravation.
Moapa Valley tie the game by the end of the 3rd quarter at 27’s.
But Mountain View pleased their home crowd with a scoring outburst of 20 points in the 4th quarter to earn a five point victory.
Jay Mortensen lead the Pirates with 11 points while Andrew Huerta added 10 with Dalton Gordon also scoring 10 points. The Saints shot 24 free throws making 18 of them, 11 more than the Pirates. They made four 3-pointers in the game. Tevin Gray scored 16 points to lead all scorers. Conner LeBoeuf added 15.
The Pirates traveled to Virgin Valley over the weekend for the Bulldog Invitational where they finished 0-3.
They were paired with Shadow Ridge in the first game and were beaten 68-39. Shadow Ridge didn’t waste any time as they outscored the Pirates 19-9 in the 1st quarter. They followed it up with 17 more in the 2nd quarter for a 20 point 36-16 lead at half time. Shadow Ridge scored 20 more in the 3rd quarter as both teams finished with 12 points in the 4th.
The Pirates made four 3-pointers and were 3-8 from the free throw line. Shadow Ridge was 13-23 from the free throw line and hit seven 3-pointers in the game.
Mortensen led the Pirates with 11 points while Jerell Springer lead everyone with 17.
The Pirates played Enterprise Utah in their first game of two on Saturday. Enterprise beat the Pirates 58-38. The Pirates lead 7-6 after the 1st quarter and 19-13 at half time. But then the Wolves got hot and outscored the Pirates 26-13 in the 3rd quarter. They weren’t finished there, as they scored 19 more in the 4th while holding the Pirates to 6 points.
Moapa Valley was 3-7 from the free throw line while Enterprise was 10-17. Neither team made a 3-pointer in the game.
Huerta scored 12 points to lead the Pirates while Jake Jones and Rickey Ramos scored 10 points each to lead the Wolves.
In the second game of the day Moapa Valley played Kanab Utah and were beaten 51-35. The Pirates struggled to score in the second half scoring just 4 points in the 3rd and 6 in the 4th. Moapa Valley was 7-11 from the free throw line while Kanab was 8-18.
Huerta scored 14 to lead the Pirates while Lane Anderson scored 16 and Zach Fryer added 15 for the Cowboys.
This week the Pirates start league play at Desert Pines where the Jaguars will be looking to avenge the state football loss. They travel to Chaparral tonight and Virgin Valley tomorrow night. The Pirates will have two weeks off before they play their first home game in the new gym on January 8. The Pirates are 3-5 overall.
