By GANNON HANEVOLD
Moapa Valley Progress
Only six days after being crowned Southern Region Champions, the Moapa Valley High School Girls Basketball team traveled into Las Vegas for their first state tournament in fourteen years.
The Pirates walked into the Cox Pavilion on Friday with the weight of an eighteen year title drought on their shoulders. Some players were feeling the pre-game jitters while others were calm as can be. Nervous or not, the Pirates hit the court against the Lowry Buckaroos with a state title on the line.
The second seed from the north, Lowry has lived and died by their ability to knock down the ‘three’. They hoped to come out and start sinking them early to set the tone, but that wasn’t the case.
Both the Pirates and Buckaroos had a sloppy start to the game. It wasn’t until just under three minutes into the game when the 0-0 tie was finally broken. The two teams combined for nine turnovers and four missed layups during this time period.
Lowry’s Sydney Connors scored first, from behind the arc, to put the first points on the board.
Trailing 5-0, Kinlee Marshall finally put the Pirates on the scoreboard. Marshall scored later on in the quarter, making it 4-9.
Senior point guard Alyssa Kuskie of Lowry knocked down a three to make it 12-4. Two scores from freshman Kaitlyn Andersen and one from Lainey Cornwall led a 6-0 run to end the first quarter, leaving the Pirates down two.
Alyssa Kuskie made her second three of the game after a free throw from Moapa Valley, putting the score at 15-11. Cornwall responded with her first triple of the afternoon to match.
With the Pirates trailing 17-14, Moapa senior starting forward Madison Bush hit her knee on the court diving for a loose ball. She was on the floor for a few moments while Pirate fans held their breath. Bush would not return for the rest of the game and her presence was missed on both sides of the ball.
Nevertheless, the Pirates stayed strong. A layup from Kaila Enosa, cut the deficit to one. Then, off of an inbounds play, Shelbi Walker scored a three from the corner to claim the Pirates first lead of the game.
Down two, Walker scored another three just a minute later. Walker scored once again with a mid-range jumper towards the end of the half. The Pirates were behind the Buckaroos 26-24 at half time.
Brooklyn Waller scored three for Lowry on the first play of the second half, but the Pirates responded with consecutive transition layups from Marshall and Cornwall. Back to back threes from Sydney Connors and Brooklyn Waller, however, gave Lowry a 35-28 lead.
Neither side could do much in a lot of the third quarter. The Pirates became visibly frustrated as their shots simply couldn’t fall, despite getting consistent stops on the defensive end. A three from the Buckaroos ended the cold stretch.
Eventually Lowry would lead 40-29 going into the final quarter.
Sophomore Lainey Cornwall made her second three of the game to start the fourth quarter. But Lowry’s Tiana Herrera responded with two of her own.
The Pirates stayed adamant as Cornwall made yet another shot from downtown to cut the deficit to seven. Although, as they had all night, Lowry ceased the momentum with a three of their own, from Connors once again. Shelbi Walker made her third three of the day to cut it to 7 once more.
Trailing by ten later in the quarter, Kinlee Marshall laid in a shot to make it 49-41, keeping the Pirates alive. However, once again, to the frustration of the Pirates’ defense, the Buckaroos were still shooting with precision accuracy. Connors made a three to halt the imminent run that the Pirates had expected.
Connors scored on a layup a play later, and then made yet another shot from deep to push the lead to 57-41. Another three dropped for the Buckaroos and they kept their foot on the gas, pushing the lead to 61-41.
Reality was setting in for the Pirates. The final score would be 61-42 and Lowry advanced to the state championship to take on Churchill County.
Leading Moapa in scoring in the game was Lainey Cornwall, with 14 points, nine of them coming from three-point range. Walker added 11 and Marshall scored 10 as well for the Pirates.
For Lowry, Connors was the driving force, especially in the second half, with her 21 points and five threes. Brooklyn Waller scored fifteen and made three triples of her own.
As a team, the Buckaroos shot just under 67% from deep, as they put on a remarkable performance of deep scoring. They made ten threes total in the game.
Meanwhile, despite finding open looks, it seemed like the Pirates couldn’t buy a basket. They shot 6/27 from three point range and 40% from the free throw line.
Lowry went on to fall to undefeated Churchill County in the state championship.
The Moapa Valley girls’ basketball program is going to look an awful lot different starting next season. The Pirates bid farewell to four key players that will be graduating as seniors this year. Kaila Enosa, a key piece of the puzzle for her post game; Madison Bush, a defensive anchor and occasional sharpshooter; and the dynamic backcourt tandem of Thompson and Marshall. All have played their last basketball games as Pirates.
Although the end of the road was rough for the Pirates, it was the drive there that was exciting for fans to watch. Despite falling short of that elusive championship, the Pirates still had an outstanding year, and ultimately won a Southern regional championship, putting them at the top of the ladder for the region for at least one more year.
Next season, their league can be ready to see eager players return and try to reach that peak once more.
