By DAVE BELCHER
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley High School girls basketball team played its first league game last week against rival Virgin Valley in Mesquite. The hard-fought game ended in a Pirate loss to the Bulldogs, 50-44.
The two teams were tied after the 1st quarter at 8. The Pirates are the better team this year. But the players have to start making more of their free throws if they are going to be successful. Moapa Valley made 17 field goals which were three more than Virgin Valley but were just 9-26 from the free throw line. That cost them the game.
The Pirates started the second quarter with a five point run and ended up with a 20-15 lead by half time. Virgin Valley cut the lead to 1 by the end of the 3rd quarter before scoring 24 in the final quarter for a 50-44 win.
Moapa Valley scored 17 in the 4th but could not keep up with the hot-handed Bulldogs. Emily Mills finished with 12 points and Makayla Jackson finished with 11. Spencer Green led all scorers with 14 points and Emma Barnum added 13.
The Lady Pirates then opened the new gym for basketball when they hosted the Flyers from Dixie High School. The Flyers won the game 50-39.
It was a battle for the first half as Moapa Valley kept the game close. It was 12-12 after the 1st quarter and 26-24 Dixie at half time.
But Dixie used their height in the second half scoring over the top of the smaller Pirates to build a 40-30 lead after the 3rd. Moapa
Valley couldn’t close the margin in the 4th scoring 9 while Dixie added 10 for the final score.
Alexa Estridge led everyone in scoring with 21 points. Kyla Shumway led the Pirates with 13 points.
The Pirates will travel to Desert Pines and Chaparral this week before taking the Christmas holiday off. The Lady Pirates are now 1-2 overall.
