1A BOYS: Lake Mead settles down, wins third straight 1A region title
“Stagnant” is how Landon Littlefield assessed Lake Mead’s first-quarter effort against Pahranagat Valley in the Class 1A Southern Region championship game Saturday.
All it took was one sequence to snap the Eagles out of their funk.
Lake Mead took advantage of a momentum swing in the second quarter and rolled to its third straight region title, beating the Panthers 75-53 at Desert Oasis.
The defending state champion Eagles (23-8) will play the No. 2 seed from the Northern Region in the state semifinals at 4 p.m. Friday at Orleans Arena. Pahranagat Valley plays the No. 1 Northern seed at 12:40 p.m. in the other semifinal.
Littlefield said the Eagles had trouble getting comfortable during Saturday’s first quarter.
“It’s a little different than our shoebox gym at Lake Mead, so it took some time to adjust,” he said. “To not play our best game and still get the job done and be regional champs, that says a lot.”
Pahranagat Valley, which lost to Lake Mead 48-23 on Jan. 16, trailed only 32-27 midway through the second quarter, but the game quickly turned the Eagles’ way.
With 3:17 to play in the quarter, the Panthers’ Brady Whipple was whistled for a loose-ball foul while going for a steal and then was assessed a technical foul.
Littlefield made 3 of 4 free throws, and Jeffrey Newton’s 3-pointer on the resulting possession pumped Lake Mead’s lead to 38-27.
“That was a big sequence,” Pahranagat Valley coach Brian Higbee said. “It was a six-point turnaround and made it an 11-point game. That took the wind out of our sails.”
Lake Mead carried a 42-29 lead into halftime and opened the third quarter with an 18-6 run to blow the game open.
“This team is capable of making runs like that. It’s what we do,” Eagles coach Jeff Newton said. “I always say if you give us a lead, you’re in trouble because we will dig in on defense.
“I was a little disappointed defensively at the start of the game, but I think in the third quarter we tightened up.”
Littlefield finished with 22 points to lead four Eagles in double figures. Jeffrey Newton scored 12 of his 18 in the second quarter,
De’Quan Thompson added 11 and Demetrius Turner 10.
Whipple led Pahranagat Valley with 14 points. Sophomore guard Cody Hoiser was held to 12, a day after he scored 36 in a victory over Henderson International.