By DAVE BELCHER
The Progress
The Moapa Valley High School Girls Basketball team traveled to Reno last week where they competed in the state tournament played on the University of Nevada, Reno campus.
As top seed from the south, the Lady Pirates played northern second seed, Lowry, in the semi-final round. The Moapa team suffered a loss, 52-44, ending a great season for the Pirates.
The Lowry Buckaroos were the defending state champion so it was expected to be a tough game.
Moapa Valley scored the first points, a layup right after the tip off. But that would be their only lead of the game as the Buckaroos took the lead a short time later, won the game and advanced to the state final.
“We ran into a really good Lowry team,” said MVHS head coach Brandon Jones. “They had two talented players, we had a tough time stopping those two. And we struggled rebounding.”
The Lowry players used their experience to build a small lead by the end of the first quarter, 14-8.. With 2:06 to play in the half, the Pirates trailed by six points at 28-22. Lowry then pushed the lead to ten with about a minute to play. The Pirates cut the lead to seven by halftime 33-26.
“We would cut their lead to within four of five points a few times in the second half,” Jones said. “But we could never get over the hump.”
Lowry pushed their lead to 12 by the end of the third. “We battled through all four quarters,” Jones said. “I’m really proud of the girls on a great season. Four straight league and region titles is a lot to be proud of!”
In the fourth quarter, the Pirates were able to close on a five point run to cut the lead to eight points by the end of the game. No stats were available.
With the win, Lowry advanced to play Fernley in the final championship game. Fernley had beaten Pahrump in the other semi-final game.
Lowry had actually lost to Fernley in the regular season twice to finish second in the north behind the Vaqueros in the regular season. The previous weekend, in Sparks, Lowry had lost to Fernley in the northern region championship, 57-39.
But in Saturday’s state title game, Lowry upset Fernley 58-53 to win the state championship. Lowry has won two consecutive state titles now. The north has won the last six.
