Panther girls and boys basketball bow out in state semis

Both the Pahranagat Valley High School girls and boys basketball teams concluded their seasons in the state semifinals in Las Vegas on Saturday.

“One game short of our ultimate goal,” boys head coach Michael Strong said. 

Both teams went undefeated in 1A Southern League play and won their respective regional tournaments the previous weekend in Alamo; and both teams trounced Indian Springs in state quarterfinals at Southeast Career Technical Academy (SECTA) in Las Vegas on Feb. 20.

The girls won, 37-13, and the boys won, 50-38. 

Unfortunately, both teams lost to the eventual state champs in their semifinal matchups the next day.

The girls faced two-time defending state champion Pyramid Lake. The Lakers unleashed a stifling full-court trap defense to keep Pahranagat Valley off-balance throughout the game. The girls fought hard, but couldn’t gain much ground, as they fell 59-16. 

Pyramid Lake went on to capture its third straight title, defeating Eureka 50-34 in the state championship game on Feb. 22 at Cox Pavilion.

The boys took on a formative Smith Valley team that went 27-2 in the regular season and was 13-1 in the 1A West. The Panthers played the Bulldogs back in December, losing 70-33. 

Pahranagat Valley came out strong in this one, taking a 9-8 lead at the end of the first quarter, and a 30-foot three-point bomb from junior Flint Higbee banked in at the second-quarter buzzer to give the Panthers a 22-21 lead at halftime. The Panthers stretched the lead to four early in the third quarter, but Smith Valley answered with a 16-0 run that included a barrage of three-pointers to take control of the game. In the fourth quarter, Smith Valley did a good job moving the ball and running down the clock as the Panthers couldn’t get any closer than 11 points, falling 47-33.

Smith Valley went on to defeat Virginia City in the state finals on Feb. 22 in a nailbiter, 51-49.