Lady Mustangs basketball competes in state tourney in Las Vegas

Making it to the state tournament is a big deal in high school sports and Lovelock treats it as such.

Last Thursday, the fire and police departments gave the Pershing County High School girls basketball team a sendoff they’ll always remember.

Sirens howled as the girls headed to Las Vegas to compete in the state tournament for the first time in six years. The student body turned out en masse to wish them luck. 

Raegan Burrows, Taylor Garland, Kyra Cerini, Aaliyah Allen, Ayren Sam, Yasmine McKinney, Riley Harvey, Mady Grenz, Anna Happy, Kaydance Happy and Kaylen Halverson faced Democracy Prep in the semifinals on Friday.

Pershing County lost 61-22. Meanwhile, Needles slammed North Tahoe 47-29. 

Democracy Prep went on to win the 2A championship game against Needles 57-40 on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of UNLV. 

The Blue Knights play basketball year-round and will move up to the 3A next year.

“We knew we had a tough task ahead of us. We prepared for them the best we could using film we received from teams from the south. When we broke their pressure, we got good shots. The problem was it wasn’t often enough,” head coach Lee Houston said.

Pershing County sophomore Raegan Burrows led the scoring with 10 points. 

Seniors Kaydance Happy and Kaylen Halverson played their final high school basketball game.

“Kaydance played four years for us and we couldn’t be more proud. She dominated the paint for a long time. I’m sure the rest of the league will be happy to see her go,” Houston said. “Kaylen joined us this year. She played the role we needed to make the run to state. Whatever the team needed, Kaylen would be there.” 

The coaching staff included Damien McKinney, Jason Allen and Sarah Haynie. 

“I couldn’t ask for better people to work with these young ladies. They are amazing coaches who are there every day to help the team in any way possible. They each bring something different to the table and I’m thankful to have them in this program,” Houston said. “The girls set the goal of making the state tournament and they attained that goal. They got a taste of being there and feel ready to take it a step further.” 

The team drove home in a snowstorm looking forward to spring sports, prom, and graduation, all just around the corner. 

Houston, McKinney, Allen, Haynie and the girls are proud of the past season and excited about the next one.