Pahrump Valley girls basketball 1-0 in league

The Trojans are back from their successful tournament finish, but most importantly the team came back with the know-how to win games.

In the first league game for Pahrump Valley girls basketball, the Trojans traveled to Henderson to play against the Coral Academy Falcons, a top team in the league last season. The girls managed to nearly double their opponent’s score after a match full of scoring.

At the start of the season the Trojans played Arbor View in a non-league game where the Pahrump team was down by three points for three quarters. In the last quarter, the Trojans were closing the gap until the Aggies pulled away resulting in a 10-point win.

After the tournament in Reno Valley, the Trojans were successful in winning two out of the three games. The only game they lost was a close match after losing the lead.

“We only lost by three and if we played like we did tonight, we would’ve won,” the Trojans head coach Robert Hopkins said.

A lot of kids stepped up

During the tournament Hopkins noticed a change in the team compared to their first game. He knew that if the girls could get the ball up the court, they could usually score. And that’s exactly what the girls were able to start doing.

“We had a lot of kids set up,” Hopkins said.

And that team is here now scoring high on the court.

At the start of the game, the Trojans were spared by a couple of shots as the Falcons missed their first shots. But the team was able to take the lead over the Trojans as they took a four-point lead by Ashlynn Wingate (4).

It wasn’t until the Trojans were able to get some free throws that Ryleigh Denton (13) made one shot, the second shot rebounded into her teammate’s hands. Riley Saldana (20) would recover the ball and score a layup to close the gap 4-3.

The Falcons would gain another lead by five points after Samantha Luy (11) scored two points.

Before the end of the first, junior Nala Dalton (23) passed the ball to Jules Ondrisko (3) for two points.

“We kind of came out asleep in the first quarter,” the coach said. The Trojans were just behind a point at the end of the first quarter.

The Trojans didn’t like to be behind, and the Pahrump team would get back on the court to finally take the lead.

Taking the lead

After Falcons players started to miss their shots, Denton showed her Henderson opponents how to make a three-pointer as she sunk her shot to take the lead.

Then Saldana picked up another two points for the team.

The Pahrump team would make seven shots in a row to give them a 13-point lead. The Falcons seemed to be out of momentum and were not scoring in the last few minutes of the game. And in the first half the Trojans were up 27-14.

In the third quarter the Trojans furthered their lead to a 20-point advantage and the Pahrump team maintained the lead to end the match 48-25.

“Our goal is to get better every single day,” Hopkins said. “And I feel good, and I think the kids are happy with how it’s going.”

And improve they did.

The team would have a handful of players that stood out, like Saldana, who scored 18 points on the team. She scored eight more points than the second-place scorer.

She made 50 percent of all the shots she made after playing 28 minutes in the game.

Junior Savannah Thompson (11) was helpful for the team as she was not only able to score six points, but she caught 10 rebounds and made five steals.

Denton was able to also be one of the top players as she was one of two players that made three-point shots and made the most three-point shots. Trinity French (14) was able to play a strong defensive game with the most assists in the game.

Up next

The Trojans are traveling to Arizona to participate in another tournament called the Holiday Shootout.

The tournament will take place from Dec. 19-21, where they will play three games.

Pahrump Valley’s next league game will be on Jan. 8 against the Boulder City Eagles.

Contact Jimmy Romo at jromo@pvtimes.com. Follow @JimmyRomo.News on Instagram.