WINTER SPORTS AWARDS: Arbor View goalie named top player in 4A girls soccer

Ask Alex Luevano-Harden how big a role she played in Arbor View’s girls soccer team winning the Southern Nevada championship, and the senior goalkeeper instantly points to her teammates.

 

Ask Aggies coach Jay Howard, and he’ll give his team captain due credit.

 

“It gets the whole team so much confidence when you have a goalkeeper of that caliber back there,” Howard said. “If there is a breakdown, you’re not going to let in many bad goals.

 

“It allowed us to be a little more attack-minded.”

 

Luevano-Harden has been named the Review-Journal’s Class 4A Girls Soccer Player of the Year.

 

The Akron signee allowed only seven goals this season, none in four postseason victories, to lead Arbor View (18-1-1) to its first Southern Nevada title.

 

“The shutouts weren’t just me,” Luevano-Harden said. “It’s my whole team; we all work for it.

 

“You just have to trust your team, and they have to trust me.”

 

Luevano-Harden took hold of the starting job as a freshman, posting 10 shutouts that season, and kept the spot her entire high school career.

 

“She’s just a very driven kid,” Howard said. “She’s so good technically because she works so hard and has for several years.”

 

The Aggies raised the banner for the first postseason championship in the school’s five-year history Friday before students departed

for spring break.

 

“It was a real joy to get to see the players enjoy that moment and embrace it,” Howard said.

 

Luevano-Harden called the Aggies’ run to the title her “most memorable year.”

 

“I’ll remember it forever,” she said. “I love this group of girls, and I’ll never forget the coaches who helped us.”

 

Following is a list of the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s other winter Athletes of the Year:

 

4A: Johnathan Loyd, Bishop Gorman. A senior guard, Loyd earned Nevada Player of the Year honors from the Review-Journal and Gatorade. Averaged 14.1 points, 8.2 assists and 3.2 steals in leading the Gaels (30-2) to their second straight 4A state title.

 

3A/2A/1A: Dantley Walker, Lincoln County. A junior guard, Walker averaged 32.5 points, leading the Lynx (25-5) to the 2A Southern League championship and into the state title game. Voted 2A state Most Valuable Player by coaches.

 

4A: Aaryn Ellenberg, Bishop Gorman. A senior guard, Ellenberg was named the Review-Journal State Player of the Year and a McDonald’s All-American. Averaged 22.8 points and 3.6 steals in leading the Gaels (27-5) to the 4A state title. Signed with Oklahoma.

 

3A/2A/1A: Danika Sharp, West Wendover. A senior guard, Sharp averaged 35.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 6.1 steals, 3.1 blocks and 3.0 assists, carrying the Wolverines (15-11) to the 2A Southern League playoffs. Signed with UNR.

 

4A: Steven Hernandez, Bishop Gorman. A senior 152-pounder, Hernandez compiled a 40-2 record and became the eighth wrestler in Nevada history to win a fourth state title. Voted Sunset Region Wrestler of the Year by coaches. Signed with Boise State.

 

3A/2A: Shae Bryant, Moapa Valley. A junior 125-pounder, Bryant took the 3A state title and finished 53-8. Voted first-team honoree on All-Southern Nevada Wrestling Team by coaches.

 

4A: Zac Hochman, Coronado. Rolled a 261 in his final game and a 636 series — both highs on the final day — to lead the Cougars to a 7-2 victory over Spring Valley and their first state title since 2005.

 

4A: Krystal Nadeau, Silverado. Bowled a 216 in her final game and a 643 series — both highs on the final day — to lift the Skyhawks to 5-4 victory over Palo Verde and their first state championship.