Lady Pirates Win Regional Championship

By DAVE BELCHER

The Progress

The Moapa Valley Pirates girls basketball team won its fourth NIAA Southern Region title on Friday night with a 26-20 win against top-ranked Pahrump Valley, played in the Trojans gym.

It was slow going in the first period of play. It was the first time this season the Trojans were held scoreless in the first quarter. The Pirates played a tough defense rattling the Trojans into turnovers and missed shots. Moapa Valley scored 6 points in the first quarter.

The second quarter saw the Lady Pirates struggle as they scored just one point while the Trojans added 6 for a razor close 7-6 Pirate lead at halftime.

Moapa Valley started with a 3 pointer then added a layup in the first three minutes of the third quarter as the Trojans held the Pirates to 5 points in the third quarter then built a small two point lead as they scored the next 8 points to start the fourth quarter at 14-12.

MVHS sophomore Claire Cox started the last quarter for the Pirates with a three-pointer. She would score eight of the Pirate points. Her second three-pointer gave the Pirates the lead for good as they finished the game with an 8-2 run for the region title.

“Winning at Pahrump is no small feat,” said MVHS head coach Brandon Jones. “The girls came out with a great effort. It was a similar game to our previous game back in early January. The difference was our execution in the fourth quarter this time. I’m really proud of the girls. A lot of hard work by them earned another trophy.”

On Monday, Feb. 13, the Pirates hosted SECTA in the first round of the regional tournament. They beat the Roadrunners easily, 54-22.
The semi final game was played on Wednesday, again at Moapa Valley. The Pirates beat Losee in that game, 52-29.

MVHS junior Haylie Western led the Pirate offense with 22 points in the game. Andie Wood and Talli Fairchild had 7 points apiece.
Western also dominated under the net bringing down 18 rebounds in the game.

On the other side of the Regional tournament bracket, Virgin Valley started the week with a 64-38 win against Boulder City, played in Mesquite.

That win advanced the Bulldogs to the semifinals where they had to go up against Pahrump Valley on the Trojans’ turf. The Lady Bulldogs fell behind in the first half, 11-7. They never regained their footing in the game, losing to the Trojans, 36-17, and ending their season.

The Pirates will start the State tournament on Friday, Feb. 24 at Lawlor arena at University of Nevada, Reno. Game time is 7 pm against the defending state champion Lowry. Lowry was the northern second seed to Fernley who won the northern region title.

Pahrump Valley will play Fernley on Friday afternoon. The winners will play for the state title on Saturday at 2:00 pm, also at Lawlor.