Trojans find some heart and defense in win

The Pahrump Valley High School girls basketball team got into the groove of things as they finished the Del Sol tournament and played Bonanza on Monday. The Trojans finished the Del Sol tournament 1-3 losing their first game to Foothill.

The team however, seems to be getting better and better with each game they play according to head coach Jennifer Hagstrom.

“The first game was pretty rough, I’m not going to lie,” Hagstrom said, “Foothill is going to be a really good team this year. It was our first game of the season but we are playing better each game.”

Hagstrom believes that in time the team will begin to mesh better and become more confident.

Hagstrom said, “We just need to get a bit more confident and we have to get them to play together. Only three of them have ever played together before.”

Hagstrom is enthusiastic about her team overall this year.

“This is one of the most athletic groups of kids I have had. Murphy is like a little bull dog, her offense could use some polish, but she has improved a lot. Andy Bishop is a pogo stick with hair, she is so athletic and she cares. She is really coachable, same thing with Shayla,” Hagstrom said.

Shayla Dance, a starting junior post player for the Trojans, echoes Hagstrom’s theory that the team will get better as they play together more.

Dance said, “We just need to play together and start understanding how each of us plays. We haven’t played together before. We are getting better with each game.”

With three freshmen on the team as well, it takes some time for the girls to adapt to the pace of the game.

“The freshman are doing well, they are playing hard. They just needed to adjust to the speed of the game, but they are keeping up,” Dance added.

The Trojans ended up losing their next game to Silverado High School. According to Hagstrom the team played much better in this game.

“We played better against Silverado, but they made something like 14 three-pointer field goals,” Hagstrom said, “It was insane.”

For the first time in a couple of years the Trojans have been able to entertain the idea of a different defense for the season, which has been helpful in the games they have won.

Hagstrom said, “We have been playing man-to-man defense which is awesome. The last few years we have been playing zone because of a lack of speed. We are little but we are a lot quicker.”

The Trojans played Bonanza on Tuesday and beat them 33-31 in a come-from-behind win. Bonanza outscored the Trojans in the first and third quarters 6-2 and 7-5 and tied in the 2nd quarter 8-8. By the fourth quarter the Trojans buckled down and played a good 8 minutes.

Hagstrom said, “We were down by 10 at one point and in the fourth quarter we just started playing. We were playing good defense, we were in their faces.”

The Trojans outscored Bonanza 18-10 in the fourth with the ending score 33-31.

The Trojans have played five games since Thursday and Dance said she could tell it took a toll on some of them.

Dance said, “Yea, I am tired, and keeping up on homework is tough, but it is good.”

The Trojans continue their schedule this weekend as they go to Lake Mead Christian for a tournament that they placed second in last year.