Virgin Valley girls, Moapa boys advance to state

Virgin Valley center Rachel Morris set a goal to grab 15 rebounds Saturday.

She topped that in the second half alone.

Morris had 21 points, 23 rebounds, eight blocked shots and four assists to lead the Bulldogs to a 55-42 victory over Boulder City in the championship game of the Class 3A Southern League tournament at Durango.

"My goal before the game was to try and get 15 (rebounds)," said Morris, a 6-foot-3-inch senior. "I don't know if I accomplished it, but I just go out and do the best that I can."

Morris did most of her scoring in the first half, when she had 14 points to help Virgin Valley to a 32-20 lead at the break. But her rebounding and defense in the second half helped make sure the lead stood up.

Morris had 17 rebounds and six blocked shots in the second half.

"One of our emphases has been don't give second shots," Virgin Valley coach Chimane Creer said. "And we held them to eight offensive rebounds, which was a huge plus for us. In the past, their offensive boards have killed us. We controlled the offensive boards pretty much at both ends, and that was good for us."

Boulder City had no answer for Morris and 6-1 forward Jenelle Weythman inside.

The duo combined to make 12 of 13 shots in the first half, scoring 26 of Virgin Valley's 32 points.

Weythman and Morris took all but two of the team's first-half field-goal attempts.

"They've fed off each other the whole year, and it's been really quite nice to have the big kids," Creer said. "If they double down on one, they look opposite to a teammate."

Weythman added 15 points and five rebounds for Virgin Valley, which had a 46-30 advantage on the boards.

Boulder City's Karlee Koopman led all scorers with 22 points, along with eight rebounds and two steals. The 6-1 Koopman came on in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of her team's 15 points.

Virgin Valley advances to the state tournament, which begins Friday at the Orleans Arena.

The Bulldogs lost 60-36 to Lowry in the state semifinals last season.

"It was a goal that we set at the beginning of the year," Creer said of returning to state. "Last year when we went, things didn't really pan out the way we wanted them to. The kids decided we need to get back and make a statement."

BOYS

■ Moapa Valley 47, Virgin Valley 37 -- Moapa Valley has never been so happy with a fourth quarter in which it didn't make a field goal.

The Pirates (15-11) were magnificent defensively, shutting down the Class 3A Southern League regular-season champions and earning a berth in the state tournament, which starts Friday.

Josh Thompson went 6-for-7 from the free-throw line, and Hayden Cooper added two more free throws to account for all of Moapa Valley's fourth-quarter scoring.

The Pirates held Virgin Valley (15-10) to 0-for-12 shooting in the fourth to hold on for the win.

"We just tried to force them to shoot jumpers, nothing but jumpers," said Pirates coach Dallas Larsen, whose team held Virgin Valley to 10-for-43 from the field, including a 5-for-28 effort on 3-pointers.

Thompson led Moapa Valley with 15 points. Cooper added 10 points and nine rebounds.

Cameron Jensen paced the Bulldogs with 16 points.