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OBITUARIES
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NO OBITUARY NOTICES
WERE PUBLISHED IN
THIS WEEK'S EDITION
OBITUARIES FROM THE
JULY 15TH ISSUE
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03-04-2010 1A State Champs
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Pahranagat Valley 2010 1A State Champions
Photo by Dave Maxwell
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1A STATE CHAMPS
By Dave Maxwell
The king is dead! Long live the king! Pahranagat Valley stunned the two-time defending State Champion Lake Mead Eagles with a 63-53 win for the 1A State Championship crown at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno last Saturday and snatched away what had been assumed an almost certain third consecutive state title for Lake Mead.
Panthers celebrate right after the final horn
Photo by Dave Maxwell
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Panther Coach Brian Higbee said, “There were 12 young men and four coaches that fully believed we could, and we went out and executed. It feels incredible.”
The story for Alamo was also similar to lines from the “The Gambler, ” the Kenny Rogers 1978 hit, “You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em. Know when to fold, ‘em. Know when to walk away. Know when to run.” Having lost to the Eagles twice already this season, Higbee understood what their style of ball was and developed a game plan, he said, designed to slow the tempo down, different from what the first two meetings between the teams had been. “I wanted to slow it way down, make them play a different style of game, control the tempo. Get them out of the style of basketball they play, and get it into something where we are in control, and I think the kids executed that real well. It was just phenomenal to watch them execute.”
PVHS limited the Eagles to only 14 points in the first half, seven each from their main stars, Landon Littlefield and De’Quan Thompson. Patient, but aggressive, the Panthers even built up a 44-23 lead after three quarters.
However, Higbee said he knew the storm was coming sometime from the Eagles dynamic duo, and it did. The two Lake Mead seniors led a furious fourth quarter rally, scoring 12 points each, in trying to bring the Eagles from behind, where they could win that third straight state championship.
But the Panthers (21-11) continued in their own attack mode and did not back down. “These guys are state championship football players,” said Coach Brian Higbee, “you don’t have to say a whole lot, they don’t’ back down from anybody. We just talked about being consistent for four quarters. That’s what it takes to beat a team like this (Lake Mead).”
The Eagles (26-5) had beaten the Panthers by 20 points during the regular season, and by 19 in the 1A Southern League final just a week earlier. But the reversal came when it counted most.
The championship is the first for Higbee as a coach, and first title for the Panthers since 2006, and the school’s 11th overall. It also avenged a 59-49 loss to Lake Mead in last year’s title game.
Lake Mead Coach Jeff Newton said, “They (Pahranagat) had more emotion, more energy, played very smart, made some shots, the kids played very well. They got us for 32 minutes. Tonight, they wanted it more.”
Cody Hosier led Pahranagat Valley with 26 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the floor and 8-of-12 at the foul line. “It’s unreal right now. I’m just overwhelmed,” said the junior guard, who also quarterbacked the Panthers state championship football team.
Kale Leavitt, having his best game of the season, scored 14 points and Tommy Williams added 10. Leavitt, a junior guard, said, “We were patient and ran the offense, worked the ball around, not try to rush it. We used a lot of screens and drive-and-kick.” When the Eagles would collapse on Hosier, Leavitt could often slip in underneath the basket for a pass and score after Hosier drove down the lane. “It worked out well for me,” he said.
As a team, the Panthers were 25 of 40 from the floor (62.5 percent) and 10-of-18 at the foul line. Lake Mead shot 22 for 55 from the floor (40 percent).
The Panthers slow down, deliberate style in the first half, in which they only took 18 shots, but also had 14 defensive rebounds, limited the Eagles to just 14 points at halftime, seven apiece from Littlefield and Thompson. The 53 points was Lake Mead’s lowest total of the season.
Alamo also out rebounded the Eagles 25-13.
A big 19-7 second quarter by the Panthers gave them a surprising 25-14 lead at the intermission, and they didn’t let up in the third quarter either, as Hosier scored nine of his 26 points that period.
Higbee said he knew something like a cyclone from Lake Mead was coming at some point. And it did in a 30-19 onslaught as Littlefield and Thompson went to work in the fourth quarter, both scoring 12 points, and whittling the big Panther lead down to 58-51 with 1:09 remaining in the game. However, the teams traded baskets on their ensuing possessions and the Panthers stayed ahead.
Higbee added, “We talked about handling the coming storm the best we could, and we talked about getting the ball to the guys we wanted to handle it and then just hang on. Be aggressive, take it at ‘em.”
“I think we pressured offensively to combat their pressure defensively, so we did a pretty nice job,” he said. “There was no need to back down. The pressure’s on them. They’re the No. 1 seed, two-time defending state champs, we’re just going to take it at ‘em.”
Hosier, who plays on a Las Vegas club team with both Littlefield and Thompson, said it was the first time in his career he has ever beaten his two friends when they are on opposing teams.
The loss was the first by Lake Mead to a Nevada 1A opponent since dropping the 2007 state final to Trinity, and their first loss to Pahranagat Valley since 2006.
Back home on Sunday night, the Panther team held a traditional noise parade around the streets of Alamo and rang the victory bell on the walkway in front of the middle school.
Pahranagat Valley again has both the 1A state football and boys basketball titles in the same school year, which they had last accomplished in the 2005-2006 season.
Another honor was also given to Pahranagat Valley High School before the game. They were awarded the 2009-2010 NIAA Academic Award based on GPA scores for the members of the basketball team, which averaged out to 3.82. It is the second such award for the school this year. They also received it during the football season.
Pahranagat Valley 63 Lake Mead 53
PAHRANAGAT: Hosier 26, Higbee 3, Leavitt 14, Roemer 4, Poulsen 3, Wadsworth 3, Williams 10. Totals 25-40 10-18 63.
LAKE MEAD: Littlefield 21, Yamzon 7, Kowis 6, Thompson 19. Totals 22-55 7-12 53.
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