Pirate Boys Win One, Lose One

By DAVE BELCHER

Moapa Valley Progress

It was going to be a week that the Moapa Valley High School Boys Basketball team hoped to take control of the southern 3A Sunrise with a couple of big wins. But the Pirates ended up splitting the week with one win and one loss.

The Pirates travelled to Boulder City on Tuesday, January 29. They were facing the top team in the Southern Sunrise 3A.

It was a battle in the first quarter. The Eagles would take a lead early before the Pirates tied the game at 7-7; then again at 11-11.

An Eagle free throw followed by a Lucas Walker 3-pointer for the Pirates put Moapa in the lead, 14-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Both teams found the basket often as they stayed close. The Pirates trailed by one point at halftime as the Eagles out-scored them, 21-18, in the second.

It was in the third quarter when the Eagles opened up the lead . They added another 19-points in the third while holding Moapa Valley to only 11 points for a 53-43 lead.
The Eagles scored 19 more in the fourth as the Pirates added 17 to their total. Boulder City won with a final score of 71-60.

Jessop Lake led the Pirates in scoring with 16-points. Kasten Frei scored 12 with Walker adding 11.
The Eagles’ big two came through as Ethan Speaker scored 23 and Derrick Thomas added 21. The two accounted for over half of the Eagles 71-points.

On Thursday night, the Pirates rallied, hosting Sunrise Mountain Miners and taking a 77-65 win. Moapa Valley took an early lead of 19-7 after the first quarter.
Both teams started by missing layup as all were finding it hard to score.

The Miners lead 5-4 before a Pirate 3-pointer gave Moapa a 7-5 lead. Two free throws would yield a 9-5 Pirate lead just before a 10-2 run ended the first quarter.
The second quarter was even as the Miners scored one more point 18-17. But the Pirates continued to lead 36-25.

The Pirates returned to the floor blazing in the second half. They outscored Sunrise Mountain 21-13 to hold a commanding lead.

Lucas Walker played a solid game for the Pirates scoring 22-points.Jessop Lake scored 17-points as he continued to be a force in the paint.

In the fourth quarter the Miners were unbelievable as they made almost every shot that went up. If it had not of been for the another 20-point fourth quarter for the Pirates Sunrise might have come back.

The Miners scored 27-points in the fourth led by Moises Garcia who scored 23-points in the game. Dai’Quan Sykes added 17.
The Pirates are 14-8 overall this season and are sitting in a solid third place at 4-2 behind Boulder City 6-0 and Chaparral 5-1 in league play.

Virgin Valley is fourth with a 2-4 league record but just 3-14 overall.
The Pirates travel to Sky Pointe Wednesday night then to Virgin Valley on Friday.