By DAVE BELCHER
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley Boys Basketball team knew they had a huge week in front of them. Last week, they started their league season with three games, all on the road; starting at Desert Pines and ending in Virgin Valley. It ended up being a tough week for the Pirates, finishing the week with 0-3.
At Desert Pines it seemed fitting that the Jaguars would be ready to pounce on the Pirates and just blow them out. And the final score of 76-49 would indicate that’s exactly what happened. But the game was actually closer than that.
This was not the Desert Pines team that has dominated the Sunrise league over the past two seasons since their arrival in the Division IA. In the end, Moapa Valley came out with intensity and enthusiasm and took a 5-1 lead early on.
Desert Pines was quick and aggressive as they drove to the hoop often. But they missed several layups while the Pirates out rebounded the Jaguars in the beginning. The Jaguars then got it together as they took a 16-11 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Desert Pines built on that lead in the second quarter when they outscored Moapa Valley 22-7.
Moapa Valley was working hard and battling the boards very well. The Pirates came out and cut the Jaguar lead to ten twice and nine once in the second half.
But Desert Pines was just too good, even on a night they appeared to be struggling. The lead increased to 26 by the end of the third quarter. Andrew Huerta scored five three-pointers on the night scoring 18 points total. Derek Cope scored 12.
Desert Pines won the fourth quarter as they outscored the Pirates 19-18.
“If we can keep the intensity level we are going to win some games,” said Head Coach Dallas Larsen. “The intensity was there tonight.”
Coach Larsen and Coach Brandon Jones were both pleased with the game and the intensity shown by the Pirates.
That intensity didn’t last though. The Pirates next travelled to Chaparral on Wednesday where the Cowboys beat the Pirates 67-44. The Cowboys were in the groove during the first quarter with a 21-12 lead by the end of the quarter. Moapa Valley struggled to move the ball up the floor as the Cowboy press caused problems from the beginning.
Moapa could only muster up 6 points in the second quarter while Chaparral increased their lead to 34-18.
The Pirates played their best quarter of the night in the third quarter. They scored 18 points just staying up with the Cowboys who also scored 18. Dalton Gordon scored 10 points for the Pirates.
Chaparral continued with a hot hand scoring 15 points to extend their lead to 23 by the end of the game.
Then on Thursday the Pirates returned to Virgin Valley. It was a battle which the Bulldogs won 66-56. Andrew Huerta played his best game of the season so far scoring 20 points to lead the Pirates.
But the game was won from the free throw line. The Bulldogs went to the line 43 times and came away with 28 points. Moapa Valley shot 15, scoring 6 of them for a 22 point difference.
Jay Mortensen scored 11 points for the Pirates. Moapa made 8 three-pointers for the game, Virgin Valley just two. Virgin Valley had five scorers in double digits lead by Zach Barnum and his 16. Marcus Saunders and Cody Jones each had 12 while Jarrett Tietjen scored 11 and Cody Burnside added 10. Jones made 10 free throws in the fourth quarter to help the Dawgs maintain their lead.
The Bulldogs lead 13-9 after the first quarter. Moapa caught fire in the second quarter and built a 5 point lead at 30-25 by half time. The Pirates outscored Virgin Valley 21-12 in the quarter.
Virgin Valley returned the favor in the third with 21, then followed that with 20 points in the fourth. Moapa Valley had 11 then 15 but fell 10 points short in the loss. Moapa Valley will return to action after the Christmas break when they host Del Sol on January 8 for their first official home game in the new gym. They will travel to Boulder City on January 9.
The Pirates are 3-8 overall and 0-3 in league play.
