By GANNON HANEVOLD
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley High School Girls Basketball team is on a roll and it’s not clear who, if anyone, can stop them.
Two teams got an opportunity last week when the Pirates played Del Sol on Wednesday on the road; and then returned home Friday to face rival Boulder City. Neither were successful in slowing down the Pirates.
It seems as if the talent already present on the Pirates continues to progress. The team has yet to hit it, but their peak is appearing on the horizon. The girls are hoping they can time it just in time for a playoff run.
The Pirates started off last week against the Del Sol Dragons, who have struggled this season and in recent years. Early on, the Dragons appeared as if they may give the Pirates a run for their money, with a few defensive stops strung together in the first quarter. But once Moapa realized they had to step it up, they did exactly that.
At the half, Moapa still hadn’t separated from their opponent as much as hoped. The score stood at 25-17.
In the second half, thanks to a great output from the bench, and another scoring burst by sophomore Kaitlyn Anderson, the Pirates finally pulled away and left Del Sol High School with a 54-28 victory under their belt.
Emilie Barraza scored ten points off the bench for the Pirates, and sophomore Kaitlyn Hopkins put up six points of her own in a similar role. The team proved once again they can score from their starters as well as their role players.
“Emilie (Barraza) gave us a nice scoring punch off the bench,” said Pirate head coach Stuart Humes said. “This experience they’re getting is really paying off. Their confidence is sky high.”
As for the slow start to the game, Humes said, “I think we underestimated them a little bit. They hadn’t had much success last year and I think we were looking forward to Boulder City a couple of days later.”
“The girls were able to settle down and make some adjustments,” Humes added. “It was a good lesson learned for us that we can’t underestimate anybody.”
On Friday night, the Pirates hosted Boulder City.
Early on, the forecast had called for it to be raining threes in the gym – and that’s pretty much what happened. In the first quarter, four threes for the Pirates and three from the Eagles fell, including a deep bank shot at the buzzer. The Pirates were up with a score of 18-13 going into the second period.
Sure enough, the threes kept falling, as both sides knocked one down to start the quarter. With the Eagles hanging around, a seven point run by Moapa capped by Shelbi Walker’s third triple of the half extended their lead to 29-18. It would be 34-23 by halftime.
In the second half, the Moapa Valley defense was on display. They held the Eagles to just five points in the third quarter. The lead would be up to 20 in the fourth.
Here, the Pirates put in a few younger players, like freshmen Makayla Baldwin and Kyla Bradshaw, and sophomore Andalin Hillstead. Despite an inexperienced group of players on the floor, the product was no different. The Pirates outscored the Eagles 13-4 in the final quarter. Baldwin scored six and excited her older teammates. The final score would be 61-32.
“It speaks volumes to the kind of athletes we have,” Humes said. “It was nice to give them a reward for all their hard work.”
The second unit played outstanding defense in the second half as well, Humes said. He explained why he thinks they were so lights out on that side of the floor. “This younger group of girls is just so athletic,” he said. “They basically get to go against the best offensive team in the league every day in practice. They’re really pushed on a daily basis to get stops so it plays to our advantage on the defensive side.”
Home games against Sky Pointe and SECTA are on the calendar this week, and it seems like the Pirates might just keep rolling.
