Local Teams Compete At Lake Mead Holiday Invitational

By LOU MARTIN & NICK YAMASHITA

The Progress

It was a jam-packed day of basketball at the Lake Mead Invitational played last weekend in Henderson, Nevada. Both the Moapa Valley High School and Virgin Valley High School sent varsity boys teams to the tournament which drew competition from all across the region.

VIRGIN VALLEY
The Bulldogs team had a very successful weekend at the tournament. The VVHS team took home third place and went 3-1 in the tournament.

The Dawgs opened the tournament on Thursday by defeating Sky Pointe with a score of 66-53. Next the team polished off Cristo Academy with a dominating score of 69-11. They lost a Friday game against SLAM, but then finished the tournament on Saturday with a 55-54 squeaker over Fernley of northern Nevada.

The Bulldogs ran up good shooting percentages in the Sky Point game going 9-17 from the 3 point line and 45 percent overall.

The Dawgs’ run-and-gun offense ran smoothly for the first four games as they rang up 32 percent shooting in transition points and 54 percent inside the paint.
“In general our players demonstrated consistent effort on the defensive end and ran transition well plus a good rebounding effort in Thursday’s games,” said VVHS Head Coach Ty Wakefield.

The Bulldogs travel to Coral Academy on Wednesday this week. Then they host SECTA on Friday at 6:30 pm.

MOAPA VALLEY
The Moapa Valley team had a rough time in this first tournament of the season. The Pirates dropped three out of four games, including a very rough overtime thriller against the host team.

The Pirates started out well on Thursday against Lincoln County, beating the Lynx, 62-43. The score was close at the end of the first quarter. But then an 18-2 second quarter put the Pirates in a clear lead that they never lost for the rest of the game.

Next, the Pirates faced Fernley. The team outrebounded Fernley 45-32, but were not able to pull out the victory as the Vaqueros won, 63-52. Peyton Neilson led all scorers in the game with 32 points.

On Friday, the Pirates took on the host Lake Mead Eagles in the consolation bracket. “It was a brutal barnburner of a game,” summarized MVHS Head Coach Coach Walker.

With only 2:28 left in the 4th quarter, the Pirates were up 52-51. But they struggled with getting the ball inside for close baskets and ended regular play 54-54, going into over-time. The team struggled in overtime as well and the final score had Lake Mead Christian winning with a score of 61-65.

“This was a good contest to work on late-game decisions and pressure situations,” said Walker. “Unfortunately we struggled with getting the ball in the hole, converting free throws, and turning the ball over.”

Peyton Nielson had another good game with 31 points. Ben Jolley had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Dustin Gordon had 11 points and 14 rebounds.

For the last game of the tournament the Pirates faced Somerset Sky Pointe on Saturday. The Moapa team lost, 46-56.
“We just ran out of steam,” explained Walker. “The boys are still shedding that football mentality and getting their basketball chemistry together. It will come. ”

The Pirates play their first home league game on Friday against Pinecrest Academy Cadence at 6:30 pm.