CLASS 1A BOYS: Pahranagat Valley boys use defense to lock down Beatty

Pahranagat Valley’s boys basketball team set a goal at halftime Saturday to outscore Beatty in each of the final two quarters.

The Panthers might as well have set the bar at not allowing the Hornets to score at all.

Pahranagat Valley held Beatty to seven second-half points — all in the third quarter — en route to a 49-30 victory in the Class 1A Southern League final at Durango.

“We just played tremendous team defense,” Panthers guard Cody Hosier said. “That’s what we’re basically oriented around: playing great team defense.”

Pahranagat Valley (24-4) clinched the South’s No. 1 seed in the 1A state tournament, which begins Friday at Arbor View High School. Beatty (20-11) also advanced as the South’s No. 2 seed.

The Panthers won last year’s state title, but Saturday marked the first league tournament championship since the 2001-02 season.

“The region championship is nice, but the big one is later,” Pahranagat Valley coach Brian Higbee said. “We’ve got to come with the mentality that we’ve got to take the trophy. They don’t give them out, so we have to earn it, and the kids know that.”

Hosier, a senior point guard, led Pahranagat Valley with 14 points, four assists and five steals, and teammate Kade Wadsworth added 11 points.

A steal and a layup by Ivan Maldonado gave Beatty a 23-17 lead midway through the second quarter, but the Panthers used a swarming, man-to-man defense to outscore the Hornets 32-7 the rest of the way.

Jose Moreno converted a three-point play with one second left in the third quarter to pull the Hornets within 34-30, but it would be the last time Beatty scored.

Beatty missed all eight of its shots from the field in the final period.

“Defensively, we kind of wear on teams with constant pressure,” Higbee said. “It was a consistent effort every quarter, and I think that’s what the kids do.”

Maldonado led Beatty with 11 points and five rebounds. Anthony Turner tallied four points and 11 rebounds for the Hornets, who will play in a state tournament next week for the first time since winning the 2A crown in 1996-97.

Pahranagat Valley will be playing for its 12th state title in any class. Higbee called it a “special opportunity” in that the Panthers haven’t won repeat state championships since the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons.

“It’s nice to know that we’re at the top of our league, but it’s definitely not what we’re looking for,” Hosier said. “We’re looking for that trophy next week, so this is just another step toward that.”