By GANNON HANEVOLD
Moapa Valley Progress
The last week of the regular season has come and gone for the Moapa Valley High School Girls Basketball team. The Pirates needed just one victory to take the second seed last week. Two wins would have placed them in the top spot.
Moapa started the week on the road with a game at Chaparral High School. After scoring 70 points against the Cowboys earlier this season, offensive confidence wasn’t a problem for the Pirates.
That was evident early on as the Pirates led 23-6 at the end of the first quarter. In the first half alone, Peyton Schraft knocked down two triples, as did teammate Lainey Cornwall. Schraft finished with nine points after making another shot from downtown in the second half. Cornwall’s finally tally landed at 16. The final score was 67-32 in favor of the Pirates.
The most impressive personal statline came courtesy of Kaitlyn Anderson, who finished with a near triple-double. Her final box score came complete with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 9 steals.
As a team, the Pirates had their second most triples of the season, with 8, and forced a remarkable 40 turnovers. It was a complete game for the blue and gold.
In the second game of the week, the Pirates hosted the rival Boulder City Eagles. This was a chance for Pirate revenge after a bitter loss earlier in the year. Going into it, the Pirates knew they’d need to get off to a fast start, But the Eagles dialed up the right gameplan in the first quarter.
Using their height and immaculate three-point shooting, the Eagles led early. The score was 18-9 at the end of the first period thanks to a three-point buzzer beater. By halftime, the Eagles had built an eleven point lead.
In the second half, the Pirates couldn’t find an answer for the Eagles’ Ellie Howard, who stands heads above the rest of the players on either side. Howard piled up points inside. Meanwhile, it seemed like Moapa couldn’t find any luck whatsoever on the other end. Even so, they made it a five point game going into the fourth quarter as Anderson and Cornwall heated up.
Down seven points in the fourth quarter, Anderson knocked down a three to cut the lead to just four points. On the ensuing possession Cornwall shot for one of her own. The ball’s bounce on the rim was a fitting encapsulation of the game as a whole. After hitting just about every bit of orange metal imaginable, the shot fell off the rim. The Pirates never got closer than four points and went on to fall, 53-41.
“I was a little disappointed in our defense overall,” said MVHS head coach Brandon Jones. “We allowed them too many easy shots that they didn’t have to work for. We have to get better there.”
“I think most importantly, we have to get off to a good start in the first quarter against them,” Jones added when asked what the team’s focus will be if they meet the Eagles again. “That’s not a team we want to play from behind because they’re very patient on offense.”
Now in the playoffs, the Pirates will play the third seed from the Sunset: the Democracy Prep Blue Knights in their first matchup. In a league with so little parity, Jones says as many as seven teams could reach the state tournament. The Pirates are hoping they can be one of the two squads to reach that pinnacle. All it takes is two wins.
