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March 29, 2024 6:01 am
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Lady Pirates Win Southern Region

By GANNON HANEVOLD

Moapa Valley Progress

The MVHS Girls Basketball team celebrate on Saturday, after winning the Southern Region Championship against Virgin Valley. The Pirates will go on to the State tournament this weekend. PHOTO COURTESY OF ERINN THOMPSON.

It was an absolute roller coaster of chaos for the Moapa Valley High School Girls basketball team last week. But, as a thrill ride metaphor may suggest, it certainly had more highs than lows. Ultimately, the Pirates challenged the record books and came away with a Southern Region Championship.

The Pirates played their first playoff game on their home court against Pahrump on Wednesday night. In front of enthusiastic fans, Moapa put on a perfect example of consistency. They jumped out to an 8-0 run, which would turn into a 16-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Pirates’ full court pressure continued to rattle the Trojans. At half, Moapa held a firm 27-8 lead.

In the second half, it was about ball control for the Pirates. They went on to win 42-24 and move on to the regional semifinals, one win away from a berth in the 3A State Tournament.

In the semifinals, the Pirates traveled to Las Vegas for a neutral site game against the Cheyenne Desert Shields.
The Pirates had beat the Desert Shields earlier in the season by twenty points. So they came into the game with confidence.
Early on, Cheyenne did their best to rattle that confidence by forcing turnovers. Five takeaways by the Desert Shields allowed Cheyenne to jump out to a 10-0 lead in the first few minutes of the game. There was an uneasy feeling in Moapa stands.

In the second quarter, though, the Pirates began rallying back. Free throws from Lainey Cornwall helped to cut the lead down to one point midway through the second quarter. The Desert Shields would not allow Moapa Valley to take the lead, however, as they extended what was a 16-15 score to 32-18 on the scoreboard. This was now the highest lead that Cheyenne had held all night just before half. At halftime, the score would be 34-23.

In the early moments of the second half, it would jump to 36-23.
It was this moment in the game when sophomore guard Lainey Cornwall caught fire. Cornwall continued to find her way to the free throw stripe and was sinking foul shots with consistency. Trailing by ten, Cornwall hit a three pointer to cut the deficit to seven.

Still down 40-33, the Pirates needed just a bit more to make this one a win. Senior Matilda Thompson pulled up from behind the arc on the left wing and scored on a fast break to make the deficit just four. Back to back scores by Kinlee Marshall kept the momentum going as the score was 40-42 in favor of the Desert Shields.
Cornwall kept scoring for the Pirates. An and-one, complete with the made free throw chopped Cheyenne’s lead to one point at the end of the third quarter.

On the first defensive possession of the final quarter, the senior, Thompson, picked the pocket of a Cheyenne guard and took the ball up the left side for a layup to take Moapa Valley’s first lead of the game.
Scores from Cornwall and freshman Kaitlyn Andersen upped the lead to 49-44. Cheyenne would rally to tie it up at 49 with two and a half minutes left.

Another and-one for Moapa, this time from senior center Kaila Enosa, allowed the Pirates to regain the lead, 52-49.
Cornwall brought the score to 55-49, with a three that sent the gymnasium into a frenzy.
From there, Moapa’s lead would never waver. They would go on to win the game, 57-53, earning them their first spot in the State tournament since 2003.
Cornwall led the team with a whopping 25 points, twelve of them coming from the free throw line, where she shot just under 86% for the game.

Two days later, the Pirates would play for the regional championship, a game played for seeding in the state tournament. But considering Moapa’s opponent, this game meant so much more to the players and fans. The Pirates would be taking on their rival Bulldogs for the third time after falling in nailbiters on the previous two occasions.
Within just two seconds after tip-off, Matilda Thompson put the first two points on the board for the Pirates, setting the tone for the rest of the game.

It would be back and forth for much of the first quarter. At one point the Pirates trailed 8-7.
It was here that Moapa Valley would go on a run to give themselves an early lead. Once again, it was the sophomore Lainey Cornwall getting it done in the scoring department. She scored 10 of Moapa’s first 12 points of the game and got what would go on to be a 12-0 run started. With the help of fellow underclassman Kaitlyn Andersen, Cornwall and the Pirates led 19-8 at the end of the first quarter.

Despite finally ending the run to start the second quarter, the Bulldogs watched Kinlee Marshall drain a triple that reaffirmed that the Pirates wanted to win.
The two sides would battle back and forth but Moapa’s lead wouldn’t waver. It in fact jumped to a game-high sixteen points as Marshall stayed relentless on the offensive end. Moapa led 32-20 at the half, with Cornwall already putting 14 points on the board.

In the third quarter, the Pirates played the game safe. They controlled clock and score all the way through. Despite a high scoring first half, the entire score in the third quarter would add up to be 4-3 in favor of the Pirates. This gave them a 36-23 lead going into the last quarter.

Emma Barnum tried to bring Virgin Valley back early in the fourth, as the lead was cut to 40-31. But freshman Kaitlyn Andersen stole the ball off the dribble of Virgin Valley freshman Natalie Lagamayo. She scored on the other end to put an exclamation point on the game.

In the final moments, Pirates sophomore Peyton Schraft would score at the buzzer to add up to a final score of 47-33.
For the first time in 17 years, the Moapa Valley Lady Pirates basketball team was deemed Southern Region Champions.
The Pirates and Bulldogs will represent the South at the state tournament this weekend, while Churchill County and Lowry will represent the Northern region.

The Pirates will take on Lowry on Friday, at 2:30 PM at UNLV with a chance to secure a spot in the state championship. If Moapa can keep their momentum up and win a title for the first time in 18 years, the fans and players wearing Pirate blue and gold will certainly find themselves partying like it’s 1999.

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