Lady Trojans basketball dominates Amplus Academy for first league win

It was quite the lopsided match-up last Wednesday evening as the Lady Trojans defense nearly recorded a full-game shutout.

Amounting only four points in the second quarter, Amplus Academy was quickly sent packing in the Trojans’ first league win of the season 50-4.

Triggering the running clock up 35 points with 6:33 to play in the third quarter, the Trojans at halftime already led 35-4 thanks to junior Riley Saldana.

Saldana, who is currently ranked seventh in Nevada for points scored per game behind Carson Senators’ Ashlan Smokey, dropped 19 points and seven rebounds en route to the Trojans blowout.

The Lady Trojans (2-2, 1-2 3A Southern League) defense stayed aggressive as Autumn Colon, Saldana, and Ella Odegard each had five steals followed by Kaitlyn Brown (4), Emily Zargoza (3), Addi Nelsen (3) and Aurora Bowers (2).

It took Amplus Academy nearly two quarters to finally notch their first bucket with three minutes left to play in the second quarter.

Amplus’ Desiree Rodriguez and Salematou Kaba were the Archers’ (0-4, 0-3 3A Southern League) only scorers on the night.

Out of halftime, the Trojans quickly resumed where they left off following a clean jumper from Odegard and Saldana.

Saldana was scoring from all angles of the court, quickly draining a three from the corner to extend the Trojans’ runaway lead to 42-4.

Nearly every Trojan on the roster recorded points (except three players) as the offensive barrage was a bit overwhelming for the Archers’ inexperienced defense.

Odegard has been a bright spot for the program, as the sophomore has contributed some key minutes this season, finishing Wednesday’s game with eight points, shooting four-of-six from the field.

Cutting their turnovers down a bit, Pahrump finished with 19 — 10 less than the 29 steals recorded.

With the win, head coach Bob Hopkins remains one win away from notching his 650th career win as head coach.

Virgin Valley

After traveling to Mesquite last Friday to take on the 3A Southern League first-place Bulldogs, the Lady Trojans knew they’d have their work cut out for them.

Opening their season with a tough home tournament that saw out-of-state competition from Arizona and California, the Bulldogs showed no signs of giving up their league lead as they defeated Pahrump 65-17.

Despite Saldana shooting 71% from the field with 12 points, the Bulldogs offense was just as impressive as their defense as they led the Trojans 55-3 at halftime.

With a running clock, the Bulldogs (5-2, 3-0 3A Southern League) quickly put away Pahrump in the second half.

The Trojans offense picked up the scoring, notching 14 but was already out of the contest by that point.

Tournament Play

The Lady Trojans were scheduled to compete in the Bullhead City Holiday Shootout in Bullhead City, Arizona, which was recently canceled.

Pahrump will now participate in the annual HBCU Holiday Jam at Valley High School from Dec. 19-23.

The girls have two scheduled games on Dec. 20 at 1 p.m. against Valley High School and on Dec. 22 at 11:45 a.m. vs. Legacy High School in the Valley High School main gym.

Valley High School is located at 2839 Burnham Ave Las Vegas, NV, 89169.

Contact Jacob Powers at jpowers@pvtimes.com. Follow @jaypowers__ on X.