By DAVE BELCHER
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley High School Boys Basketball team finished its 2017-18 basketball season last week with a loss at Boulder City then a final home game win against Sky Pointe.
The Pirates travelled to Boulder City on Tuesday, Feb. 6. The opening minutes of the game were turbulent as each team turned the ball over and over to start the game. Boulder City would have an 8-4 lead early before the Pirates tied the game midway through the first quarter 8-8. The Pirates would then take a 10-9 lead after Boulder City made a free throw.
Boulder City would end the first half with a five-point run, 14-10 lead, to start the first quarter.
The Eagles would start the second quarter with a 7-2 run building a 21-12 lead. The Eagles would outscore the Pirates 20-9 in the second quarter for a 34-19 halftime lead.
Moapa Valley started the second half with a hot hand. The Pirates scored seven unanswered points in the first few minutes of the half. But they would finish with just three points the rest of the quarter. Meanwhile, the Eagles went on a 16-3 run to lead 50-29 to start the fourth quarter.
The Pirates didn’t make up any ground in the fourth quarter. Both teams finished with 13-points for the final score of 63-42.
The Eagles were led by Carson Balistere’s 17-points while Karson Bailey added 11.
Derek Reese would lead the Pirates in scoring with 14-points. Lucas Walker added 11.
The Pirates hosted the Sky Pointe Eagles on Thursday. It was also senior night, the final game for the careers of Trey Jones, Ryan Foster and Nathaniel Thompson.
Once the game started the Pirates had little problem with the Eagles, outscoring them 27-6 in the first quarter.
Derek Reese would finish the game with a team high of 17 points. Trey Jones finished with 11 points.
Moapa Valley coasted the rest of the game and a win, 63-52, to finish the season 6-18 overall and 4-8 in league play. They finished fifth.
The big news came a couple of days later when Head Coach Dallas Larsen announced he was stepping down as the Pirates head boys’ basketball coach. Larsen finished with an overall record of 90-162 and a league record of 26-66. He won the state championship in 2010-11.
During his time as Pirate head coach Larsen has led the program when the Pirates were forced face former 4A teams like Desert Pines and Clark High Schools who had been dropped into the 3A by realignment decisions. These large school teams have easily dominated the 3A winning the state championships.
Larsen took over the program the 2007-08 season replacing Mike Strong.
