Teams Across Region Attend Invitational

By DAVE BELCHER & LOU MARTIN

The Progress

The Bulldog Invitational Boys Basketball Tournament featured 2A/3A teams throughout southern Nevada in a two-day playoff held Friday and Saturday, Dec. 2-3. Each team played four games over two days.

Local teams Virgin Valley and Moapa Valley went 2-2 in the tourney. Two teams, Lincoln County and American Leadership Academy (ALA) out of Spanish Fork, Utah, went undefeated after two days of play winning all four games they played.

Small school Lincoln County, coached by former Bulldog coach Sean Fitzsimons defeated Virgin Valley, Moapa Valley and Pahrump Valley plus staged a rout of 1A Beaver Dam.

A huge ALA squad featured 9 players over 6’ feet tall including center Mason Farr who towered over the field at 6’9”. They won easily in their matchups.

The best and most competitive game of the weekend featured Virgin Valley and Lincoln County High Schools. This game went down to the wire before the Lynx pulled out the win.

It was a game of halves as the Bulldogs had a 44-35 advantage after one half of play. The Bulldogs small ball lineup ran through the Lynx in the first half. Speedy Bulldog guards Elian Pinto and Malachi Davis dominated early with slashing drives for baskets. Pinto had 18 points and Davis added 10 in the first two periods.

But Lynx Coach Fitzsimons adjusted his defense in the second half to slow down the speedy Bulldog offense. The Lynx tightened their defense in the middle preventing the Bulldog guards from finishing their drives. The Bulldogs had only 15 points in the second half losing 61-59.

The Lynx were led by steady forward Ryan Hannig who tallied 27 points for the game. Davin Avery and Wyatt Stevens added 11 points each in the win.

Pinto finished the game with 22 points followed by Davis with 13 points. Stratton Waite added 10 points for the hometown Dawgs.

The Moapa Valley Pirates easily defeated a shorthanded White Pine County High School Bobcats team 59-27. The Pirates led 14-0 after one period and 36-9 at the half. The Pirates substituted the rest of the overly matched game.

Mason Wheeler led a balanced Pirate attack with 15 points followed by Joseph Whitmore with 10 points, Heath Bylund with 9 points and Bryson Walker with 8 points.

In their next game, the Pirates faced ALA and were beat by the Eagles, 55-39. The Eagles built a 15-6 lead by the end of the first quarter. Moapa Valley came back and cut the lead to 1 by half time with a 13-7 second quarter for a 22-21 Eagles lead.

It was the third quarter that did the Pirates in as the Eagles got hot and out-scored the Pirates 21-10 in the third then 12-8 in the fourth for the final score.

Swarnes led the Eagles with 18 while Farr added 17. Swarnes made six three point baskets in the game.
The Pirates lost to Lincoln County 62-56 despite trailing 26-24 after one half of play.
The Lynx went on a big run to start the second half increasing their lead to 47-35.

The Pirates fought back in the last period but couldn’t overcome the deficit. The Pirates gave the ALA Eagles their toughest match of the week before losing 55-39.

The Pirates crushed independent Cristo Rey 66-14 in their final game of the weekend.