Pahrump Valley girls basketball team preps for next league match

The girls added one more win to their regular season but also added two more losses after their basketball tournament in Bullhead City, Ariz.

This was about same outcome as the girls’ first tournament of the season in Reno Valley.

In their first season, the Trojans were playing tight games where the girls learned a lot. Most importantly, it was to get the ball to the other side of the court.

When the girls came back from Sparks, they were able to win big in their first league game of the season. The girls defeated the Carol Academy Falcons after a slow start.

Pahrump was down by one at the end of the first quarter. Then, the Trojans scored 18 points and were up by four by the end of the second quarter. The Trojans came out of halftime with the same momentum, scoring 14 points for a 20-point lead.

By the end of the match, Pahrump won by 23 points, a huge change from their first non-league game of the season where the Trojans would get stuck on their side of the court.

Here’s how the girls did in their tournament:

Trojans 1-2

In the first match, the Trojans were reminded of what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a big loss.

On Dec. 19, Pahrump Valley played against the Murrieta Valley Nighthawks, a 2A California school. The Trojans were running with a reduced team. Without junior Savannah Thompson (11) the team was not at its defensive peak.

From the jump, Pahrump was down 13 points by the end of the first quarter and not even the team’s top scorers were able to bring back the lead. When the girls went back to the locker rooms for halftime, the girls were down 22 points.

It wasn’t until the third quarter that the Trojans began to score and matched the Nighthawks points at 11, but it didn’t make enough difference in the overall lead the California team had. There was too much of a gap by the fourth quarter, and the Trojans were not able to bounce back.

The Trojans lost 54-26.

In their second game of the day, the Trojans played a closer game against Spring Creek, another 3A team in Nevada.

The Trojans started with the lead in the first quarter after leading by three points. But it only seemed like the Spartans had a slow start as in the second quarter the Spartans would score 11 to the Trojans’ two points in the quarter.

The Trojans were down six points by halftime and when the teams came back after the break, the Trojans were still not able to gain momentum. The Trojans found themselves down 11 by the end of the third quarter.

Although the Trojans were nearly able to double the Spartans’ points scored in the last quarter, it wasn’t enough for the Trojans to catch up. The Spartans would win 34-29.

But the Trojans wouldn’t leave without a win.

The next day the Trojans had one more game, where the Trojans won 49-40.

In the tournament, the girls had two standout players; senior Ryleigh Denton (13) and junior Riley Saldana (20).

Together they scored 78 points for the team, and they were separated by only four points. Denton scored 37 points, while Saldana scored 41 points.

Up next

The Trojans are on a bye week for the holidays but will return to the court on Jan. 2 for another tournament.

Starting with Western, the Trojans will then play Del Sol and one more team by the first week of the year.

This is in preparation for the Trojans’ next league game against Boulder City on Jan. 8.

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