Pirates play three games in one day, win one

The Moapa Valley High School boys basketball team played some stiff competition in the GVC Holiday Tournament, January 2-3, 2026. The Pirates played three games on Friday, Jan. 2, which was a first for head coach Kevin Walker. The first of those games was against Western, which didn’t go well, as the Pirates fell, 79-33.

“Western jumped out on us quickly, and we had a tough time against their size,” explained Walker. Things would improve as the day went on, as MVHS allowed 79 points yet again in game two against Green Valley on Friday, but this time scored 49.

“We probably played our best basketball against Green Valley, as the boys really came to play. We were able to get some stops, rebound well and get out and run,” Walker said. “As the game went along, they wore us down with their size and shooting, but the boys played hard and we saw some good things.”

The Pirates did get their fourth win of the season in a 56-38 rout of Chaparral in their third game on Friday. The MVHS defense held the Cowboys to 39% shooting from the field.

“Against Chaparral…the boys had surprising energy and got out and ran. We jumped up 18 points quickly and didn’t look back…We played scrappy, and the game was full of deflections, steals and up-and-down play,” Walker said. “We are figuring out who we are now, and our young bunch of varsity boys are really coming along.”

Senior Jaxson Bunker led the way with 23 points for the Pirates (4-11, 1-2) in the victory.

The next day, Moapa Valley played its fourth game in two days, dropping a heartbreaker to the Del Sol Dragons, 62-59.

“Del Sol is a game we would always win, but we had half our squad,” Walker explained. “No excuse, we were just short-handed and didn’t look great at that 8 a.m. Saturday game.”

The boys will get a bit of a break with three days off before Moapa Valley plays host to the GV Christian Guardians (8-6, 3-1) at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 7. The Pirates sail to Pahrump Valley for another league game at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 9.