Dave Maxwell
Pahranagat’s Ike Taylor (22) guards his counterpart Jacob Osequera of Beatty. Pahranagat closes out the regular season tonight hosting Beaver Dam.
Mike Strong, principal and head boys basketball coach at Pahranagat Valley High School, earned his 300th career victory last week when the Panthers beat Tonopah 55-30.
After additional victories on Saturday and Tuesday, Strong is 302-251 overall, including 281-216 in 15 seasons spread over two tenures at Pahranagat Valley. He has two state championships at the school, in 1998 and 2006. He was also head coach at Moapa Valley High School in the the winter of 2006 and 2007 where he was 21-35.
On Tuesday this week, at Alamo, Culen Highbe had 18 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks to lead the Panthers by the visiting White Pine Bobcats 54-42 in non-league action.
Tabor Maxwell added 12 points, and Cody Williams scored 10 for Pahranagat Valley, which 27-16 at halftime.
Samuel Stewart led White Pine with 13 points.
Last weekend, the Panthers earned a couple of important wins to all but secure the No. 2 berth in the league playoffs and the first round bye that goes with it.
Highbe, Richard Lewis and Tyson Jorgensen were the main factors in their win at Tonopah, especially in the second half.
Highbe led the team with 17 points and Lewis added 12. While Jorgensen may not have scored much, his presence under the basket had a big impact.
After a slow first half, where Pahranagat only led 19-7, things picked up more in the second half with the Panthers having a big 23-point third quarter to push their lead to 45-17 and they coasted home after that.
Lee Ketten had eight points as the leading scorer for Tonopah.
The Muckers could still make the playoffs, but they have a game with Word of Life today to decide the sixth and final playoff spot.
Saturday night at home against Beatty, Pahranagat went on a 15-0 run in the first quarter as the Hornets were just cold as ice from the floor and the foul line. They only scored seven points in the second half and lost 59-22.
Coach Mike Strong said the boys “played with real intensity in the first half,” especially the 15-0 run to open the game. “We did some really good things on both sides of the ball. Defensively, we kept them between us and the basket, were able to trap and create a number of turnovers which led to runouts at the other end.”
Highbe had 13 of his game high 19 points in the first half. Christian Higbee came on strong in the second half, getting 11 of his 14 total points at that time.
Williams finished with 10 points for Pahranagat. Jacob Oseguera led Beatty with 17 points and the Hornets only have four players in the scoring column.
