Lady Trojans basketball trumps reigning 2A state champions Needles in home opener— PHOTOS
As Needles finally knotted the score for the first time with four minutes left in the fourth quarter, for a heartbeat the game was reset — anybody’s to steal last Thursday night.
Pahrump Valley junior point guard and co-captain Riley Saldana didn’t let that moment last long.
Taking control of the closing stretch, Saldana dropped a team high of 18 points, shooting 66% from the free-throw line on eight of 12 attempts en route to the Trojans’ 41-36 win over the defending Class 2A state champions.
“I take a big deep breath in and out, do my routine and just think. I clear my mind, shoot and focus a lot on the process rather than just shooting it,” Saldana said. “What gave us the struggle the most was our offense for sure. We could have scored more points, we should have won by more but our defense was what kept us in the game.”
It took more than three minutes for either side to crack the scoreboard, but once Saldana opened Pahrump Valley’s night with a layup and two free throws, the Trojans built a 4-0 cushion.
Even more impressive, they held Needles senior scorer Scottlynn Powell to just three points in the opening quarter, hinting at a potential runaway.
Yet despite forcing stops, the Trojans (1-0) were undone by giveaways — 30 turnovers in total — and still clung to a 25-16 halftime lead thanks to a burst from sophomore guard Kaitlyn Brown. Coming off the bench, Brown scored eight first-half points, including six straight on back-to-back steals turned layups.
The second half turned chippy, with nearly every other possession devolving into a scrum, jump ball, or whistle.
Sensing momentum slipping, Trojans head coach Bob Hopkins — coaching with the poise of someone in his fourth decade on the bench — sent in junior guard Autumn Colon to crank up the defensive pressure.
It was the right call.
Colon’s disruptive energy sparked a mid-court nightmare for Needles as she finished with 10 steals.
Holding a 27-16 lead with six minutes left in the third quarter, the Trojans appeared to be pulling away.
But the Mustangs (0-1) responded with an 8-0 run from the 6:30 to 3:15 mark, tightening the game to a three-point margin.
Sophomore co-captain Addi Nelsen steadied Pahrump Valley with seven points of her own — a three, a layup, and two free throws — as the Trojans fought through their turnover problems.
The Trojans shot 50 percent from the line (10 of 20), but what they lacked in rhythm, they made up for in defensive stops.
The fourth quarter erupted with Colon snatching yet another steal — though the Trojans immediately gave the ball back — and Powell promptly drilled a deep three to tie the game at 34. Powell finished as the Mustangs’ leading scorer with 10 points, shooting 4/12 with two three-pointers.
Moments later, Needles took its first lead of the night 36-34, on a layup by junior forward Brooklyn Willis.
That was the wake-up call.
Trojans sophomore Aurora Bowers came off the bench with a clutch defensive stop, ripping away a Mustangs possession.
Saldana followed with back-to-back layups, both created off steals by Brown, swinging the Trojans back ahead 38-34 with 2:30 left.
From there, Pahrump Valley leaned on pressure.
After trading free throws — and surviving two late misses from Nelsen — the Trojans smothered Needles with a full-court press to close out the final possessions and drain the clock.
“In my opinion, I don’t think they looked that great,” Saldana said. “They were missing a player, sure, but I think the result would’ve been the same because our defense was so good tonight.”
Contact Jacob Powers at jpowers@pvtimes.com. Follow @jaypowers__ on X.
