Dave Maxwell – McKenzie Poulsen goes for a ball before it goes out of bounds. Pahranagat Valley are off until they play at Mineral County in Hawthorne, Jan. 4.
Since 2009, the 3A Moapa Valley Lady Pirates have beaten the Pahranagat Valley High School (PVHS) girls basketball team six times.
The teams, which did not play in 2017, met this year on Dec. 21, in Alamo.
A strong, aggressive group of Pirates took an early lead on the Lady Panthers, fashioning a 17-6 first-quarter lead and holding on tightly for a 45-22 non-league win.
Coach Amy Huntsman schedules these games with higher-level competition to see where improvements need to be made. “And we are seeing those things and making progress on the adjustments and will continue to do so. It’s not about how well you do in December, but rather how well you do in February.”
Morgan Harris led the Panther girl with nine points.
Moapa Valley was paced by Emma Homes and Kaitlyn Anderson, both of whom scored 10 points. Andalin Hillstead followed with eight.
Things slowed down considerably in the second half, even though both teams still tried to be aggressive. PVHS scored only 10 points from three players with Moapa getting 19 points from five players.
At the free-throw line, Moapa was 11-of-20. Pahranagat was 5-of-10.
Pahranagat Valley (2-8) has a game at Lake Mead on Dec. 29. The girls have done very well against Lake Mead over the years, winning 12-0 since 2007.
After the New Year, the Lady Panthers return to action as they travel to Hawthorne to play Mineral County, Jan. 4.
It will be the first recorded meeting between the PVHS and Mineral County girls since before 2000. Mineral County (3-6) used to be in the 1A West but was moved to the new 1A Central League just this year.
As 2018 comes to an end, the top 1A girls teams at this time are all northern division schools: Coleville (8-1), Eureka (9-2), McDermitt (8-2), and Wells (10-2).
