Young Pirate Team Laying Foundation For Season

By DAVE BELCHER

Moapa Valley Progress

The Moapa Valley High School Boys’ Basketball team is all in place and ready to start another season this week.

Last year, the team ended the season with a 1-9 league record at sixth place in the Sunrise. They were 8-19 overall.

The team will be returning only three players from last season. Returning is Nathaniel Thompson who is coming back for his senior year. He is the leading scorer returning averaging 14 points per game. Thompson has also averaged five rebounds a game which has been a big help to the Pirates.

Also returning is Trey Jones who averaged scoring 9 points a game and dished out almost three assists per game. Jones and Thompson together will be a good backcourt combination in a couple of weeks.
Returning to the floor is Derek Reese. Reese figures to be a strong post player with his 6’5” height and some experience. Next to him will be Joshua Cox at 6’4” giving the Pirates some size inside the paint. Both are juniors.

Jerrick Stasny, Dallas Larsen and Gannon Hanevold are three juniors who played JV ball last year. They should contribute well to the team. Destry Jones and Houston Neilson are sophomores playing on the varsity team this year. The three freshman on the team will be Lucas Walker, Cameron Reese and Preston Humes.

“We are young”, said Head Coach Dallas Larsen who is in his tenth year in the position. “We are going to have to build chemistry this season in order for us to win.”

This is definitely a rebuilding year as the Pirates hope to reformulate a program that was once at the top of the league. Of course, that was before the NIAA realignment that brought the larger Las Vegas schools into the mix.

Clark High School has won three state titles with Desert Pines winning two of the past five. Clark moved to the 4A last year and made the state final, almost upsetting Bishop Gorman in the championship game. Clark this year is ranked 38th in the nation and is the favorite to win the 4A title. Desert Pines who won the 3A state title last year will be the favorite again as they just seem to reload just like in football.
Moapa Valley wants to qualify for the regional tournament and will give it their best shot.

The Pirates will start their season Wednesday night here at home against the Spring Creek Spartans. The Spartans will be in the south playing in a tournament this weekend at Lake Mead. Start time for Wednesday’s game will be at 5pm in the new gym.