Crawling back from nearly a 20-point deficit, the Pahrump Valley boys basketball team banded together to score five shots to close in on Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon.
The Pirates, a team fighting to make the regional playoffs for the No. 4 spot in the league, played the Trojans in Pahrump on Friday night for the Pahrump Valley’s sixth league match. The Pirates solidified their No. 4 in the league after defeating the Trojans.
Six games in and four schools in the 3A Southern – Mountain league are currently battling to make the playoffs this season, as only two will advance. At the top of the list is Boulder City, who are undefeated, and The Meadows School, a team that has only lost to the Eagles.
Coral Academy, Doral Academy, Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon and Sports Leadership and Management (SLAM) are attempting to out-compete with one another, and currently SLAM (4-2) looks to be holding onto the No. 3 in the league.
As only four teams from the league can advance to the regional playoffs, there might be only one more spot in the playoffs, the No. 4 spot. As it stands right now, after the Pirates defeated the Trojans, Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon is now in the No. 4 spot.
Now Coral Academy and Doral Academy must play nearly perfect games to dethrone the Pirates from the No. 4 spot.
A growing deficit
The Trojans took a steep initial hit even though Pahrump junior Keir Sheppard (1) was the first to score, the only time the team took the lead in the match.
Minutes later, the Pirates freshman M.J. Tucker (5), one of the team’s top performers, gained the lead when he scored two points after senior Shane Stock (1) scored a free throw. Tucker would then score another two points before Stock hit his first three-pointer of the night.
The Trojans were down 9-2 in less than five minutes of the start of the match.
Trojans sophomore Jack Toth (5) hit a three-pointer to close the gap, but it seemed like the Trojans weren’t able to keep up the momentum.
When the Trojans attempted to get ahead, the Pirates knew how to get back-to-back points. In a minute the Pirates were able to score six points, until Trojans head coach Brayden Preston called a timeout.
Down 12 points, the Trojans were able to get two more points to end the first quarter 19-9.
And in the second quarter, the Pirates were able to outmanuever the Trojans for two minutes where they scored another six points for a 25-9 lead. But the Trojans were able to slowly come back after junior Alejandro Lozano (0) and sophomore Lucas Gavenda (10) each scored two points and a free throw from junior Joshua Slusher (14).
By the end of the first half, the Trojans were still down by 10. Although the Trojans had their moments of scoring, the Pirates just had more big plays, and the third quarter was no exception as the Trojans lost sight of the lead.
Big moments pay off
The Pirates were outscoring the Trojans at every moment, if Pahrump scored two points, Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon would score four points. But it wasn’t until the end of the third quarter that the Trojans started to play as a team.
Pahrump Valley was down 50-31 when the Trojans had a strong nearly 10 minutes.
Trojans senior Antwahn Jackson (12) scored two points just before the end of the third quarter. And in the fourth quarter the Trojans picked up steam as Sheppard scored two points, sophomore Lucas Gavenda (10) would score two more points, before Sheppard made another two points.
Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon fouled the Trojans, where Jackson made two free throws to cut down the lead to 54-44. The Pirates head coach’s call for timeout effectively stopped the Trojans’ momentum in its tracks.
The Pirates would hold their two-digit lead, until Lozano scored two points for an eight-point game, but after two Trojan fouls the Pirates pulled back their 10-point lead.
Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon would win 66-56 after Stock and Tucker scored 30 of the points. The Trojans’ Toth made three three-pointers, second to the Pirates’ Stock, who scored a total of four.
Up next
The Trojans have five more league matches, two matches against the top two teams in the league and three winnable games for the Trojans.
Starting with a tough match-up, The Meadows School will play against the Trojans on Friday in Pahrump at 6:30 p.m. The last time the Trojans played the No. 2 in the league Mustangs; the final score was 67-32 in favor of the Las Vegas team.
There is a non-conference game scheduled for the weekend against Legacy, a North Las Vegas school, on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Pahrump.
Contact Jimmy Romo at jromo@pvtimes.com. Follow @JimmyRomo.News on Instagram.