3A GIRLS BASKETBALL: Desert Pines’ Trisa Butler provides spark in win over Boulder City

Entering a close basketball game off the bench tends to be difficult for many players.

It wasn’t a problem for Desert Pines sophomore Trisa Butler in her team’s playoff opener.

Butler scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter Wednesday to build a 10-point lead, and the second-seeded Jaguars held on for a 31-25 home win over Boulder City in the Class 3A Southern Region quarterfinals.

“Throughout the whole game, I didn’t have confidence,” Butler said. “But I brought it back at the end because I saw that we were behind and had to pick it up. … I think after running up and down the court, I got warmed up. And the shots just started falling in.”

The left-handed Butler, who has been the sixth man this season, stroked two 3-pointers from the wing and added a short field goal in the fourth quarter to push Desert Pines’ lead to 27-17 with 4:55 to play. After trailing 15-14 at halftime, the Jaguars allowed just one field goal in the third quarter to make it 19-17 heading into the fourth.

Butler accounted for all of the Jaguars’ field goals in the fourth and added two rebounds in the decisive span to swing momentum and put the low-scoring game out of reach.

“That was the difference in the game,” Desert Pines coach Lonnie Campbell said. “I commend her for coming in. She has no conscience about shooting. And that’s what I like about her. She wasn’t tight.”

Elasjanae Burns tied Butler for team-high honors with eight points.

See’Airrah Evans-Collins added seven points and 13 rebounds for Desert Pines (15-13), which will meet Virgin Valley (21-3) in the semifinals at 3 p.m. Thursday at Sunrise Mountain High.

On Wednesday, the Jaguars missed the front end of three one-and-one opportunities and finished 4-for-11 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to allow the Eagles to make things interesting late.

“Nerves,” Campbell said. “That’s what it is. We shoot free throws every day. It’s all about nerves. I’ve got a young team.”

Fortunately, the Desert Pines defense stepped up and held Boulder City to 3-for-14 shooting (21.4 percent) from the field in the fourth. The Eagles missed eight 3-pointers in the quarter.

“It was all about playing ‘D’ at the end,” Campbell said. “We pulled it out with our stifling defense. We tried to wear them down. We’re just looking forward to tomorrow. We might have looked forward to tomorrow today and that’s why the game got a little tight. But I’m proud of these girls.”

Julia Worrall led Boulder City (10-15) with seven points and six rebounds.

Moapa Valley 42, Pahrump Valley 24 — At Overton, Lainey Cornwall and Kinlee Marshall each scored 11 points to lead the Pirates past the Trojans in a Southern Region quarterfinal.

Matilda Thompson chipped in six points for Moapa Valley, which jumped out to a 27-8 halftime lead. The Pirates (24-5) play Cheyenne (18-6) at 6:20 p.m. on Thursday at Sunrise Mountain.

Isabelle Meza led Pahrump (12-14) with seven points.

Cheyenne 68, Tech 55 — At Cheyenne, Ejanae Coopwood scored 16 points as the Desert Shields topped the Roadrunners in a Southern Region quarterfinal.

Starr Hawkins added 11 points for Cheyenne, which held a 35-30 halftime lead.

Tech’s Tayler Muwwakkil had 16 points. Melissa Fuller had 14 points, and Jazlyn Domingo-Naval scored 11 for the Roadrunners (9-17).

Virgin Valley 51, Western 26 — At Mesquite, Emma Barnum scored 15 points to power the Bulldogs over the Warriors.

Briana Todd added 13 points for Virgin Valley, which grabbed 43 rebounds.

Adrianna Jones scored 11 points to pace Western, and Millani Johnson had 10 for the Warriors (11-12).