As they have been doing the past six weeks, Pahranagat Valley girls broke out to a big first quarter lead, 29-4, and coasted home in winning 56-18 over visiting Sandy Valley on Senior night at Pahranagat, the last home game for the four senior girls.
Bailee Hosier sparked several fast breaks for the Panther girls (19-4, 6-0) against the Sidewinders (6-4, 1-4), scoring all 12 of her points in the first period. Teammate Kimberly Lewis added eight points that quarter and finished the game with 14.
Coach Amy Huntsman again used her platoon system, which she has been doing the past few weeks, having the starters play the first and third quarters and the second team play in the second and fourth quarters. So far, the second until has been able to keep the opponents from making a run to catch up.
?I thought the girls did a good job,? Huntsman said. ?I was happy to see us move the ball well. We haven?t done that in a while, we?ve been spending a lot of time running the fast break. Tonight we were able to slow it down, move the ball a little bit, and run some offense.?
In regards to continued use of the platoon system for the remainder of the league season and playoffs, Huntsman said she just might. ?If it?s not broke, don?t fix it. We?ll keep doin? what we?re doin.??
Leading scorers for Sandy Valley were Esmeralda Madrid and Holly Rau, both with six points.
Pahranagat Valley has just two regular season games remaining, at Round Mountain this Friday, and at Beatty on Valentine?s Day. The Beatty Hornets are third place in the league, but have two losses, so it?s unlikely they can do anything to dislodge Pahranagat. Tonopah is in second place, but their loss to Pahranagat gives the Panthers the tiebreaker advantage.
If Pahranagat maintains the lead and earns the No. 1 spot into the league playoffs, they will gain a first round bye and move to the semi-finals at Chaparral High in Las Vegas Feb. 21.