No. 1 The Meadows routs No. 5 Pahrump Valley on Senior Night — PHOTOS
The good news is that the game Wednesday night came to a safe close, ending in mutually exchanged post-game handshakes rather than flying fists.
The bad news is the Trojans were completely overwhelmed with an offense that couldn’t miss, coupled with a relentless student section pushing the limitations between support and unsportsmanlike conduct.
Somewhere in the middle, Pahrump Valley is happy to have gotten the performance out of their system.
Hoping to ruin the Mustangs’ Senior Night on Wednesday, the Trojans instead suffered a bitter defeat, falling 70-27 in a one-sided league showdown on the road.
“The boys didn’t let it get out of control. Our guys played hard like always and played good defense for three quarters,” Trojans head coach Toby Henry said. “We would play great defense for almost a full shot-clock multiple times, just to them get a rebound.”
Shooting 62% from inside the perimeter, the Class 3A Southern League leading Mustangs (19-6, 12-1) were able to facilitate the ball off fast-break steal chances and sharp pull-up shooting from Ryan Kirk, Uzo Nwapa and Alex Hutchinson.
The Meadows posted 39 total team rebounds, making use of every second-chance opportunity presented to them.
Playing stiff man coverage, the Mustangs were successful in holding the Trojans to just three points in the first and third quarter.
“It’s hard to compete with one of the best teams in the state and not make shots,” Henry said.
The atmosphere was nastily energetic, almost college-like for Pahrump as the small packed gym and student section tethering on being in-bounds on court would’t let up.
Insults to players’ haircuts and calling for their girlfriends by name were the baseline of boisterous chants that rang from the small group.
Coming out shooting better with 4:41 left in the fourth quarter, junior TC Hone finally got the Trojans on the board again with a free-throw, breaking a quiet stretch, before Samuel Mendoza powered a bucket underneath to keep the momentum alive.
Hone showed his poise at the line, sinking a free throw after being fouled on a layup attempt, while the Mustangs maintained their dominance, holding a 50-point lead—their largest of the night—at 2:07 remaining.
But Mendoza wasn’t done.
From dead center beyond the arc, he drilled a three-pointer, injecting some late-life energy into the Trojans.
Minutes later, he converted another opportunity, this time a layup off a steal, keeping the team fighting until the final buzzer.
Hone added a smooth layup, and Mendoza capped the night with one last three, finishing a late fourth-quarter explosion with 10 points.
Last game of season - Senior Night
The Trojans are set for a rematch at home, this time against their long-time rival Boulder City High School.
Celebrating Senior Night prior to tip-off before 6:30 p.m., the Trojans will honor seniors Caden Briscoe, Keir Sheppard, Joshua Slusher, and Aydon Veloz.
Looking to erase the 79-63 loss to the Eagles on the road Jan. 16, Pahrump Valley knows they’ll need to lock in to secure their playoff spot as the potential fifth seed in the division with playoffs set to begin next week.
Pahrump Valley as it stands is projected to finish as the fifth seed and will travel to take on the Class 3A Southern League fourth seeded GV Christian at 6 p.m.
“Boulder City is a big team and we’ll have to rebound well,” Henry said. “That is a lesson we need to learn for Friday.”
Contact Jacob Powers at jpowers@pvtimes.com. Follow @jaypowers__ on X.
