Thoughts on Last Weekend: Virgin Valley at Faith Lutheran

We watched two entertaining games on Friday the 18th at Faith Lutheran, where the Crusaders hosted the Virgin Valley Bulldogs.  The girls game was a low-scoring affair and the boys game was a blowout, but I enjoyed both.  Here’s why. 

• I was impressed with how the Faith Lutheran girls fought back, fought back, and then fought back against an impressive Virgin Valley team.  Their leading scorer, Meghann Smith, took a shot to the forehead but changed her bloody jersey at halftime and didn’t miss a beat in the second half.  Their point guard went down with an ankle sprain, but limped back on the court and battled in the fourth quarter.  Two starters fouled out, but the Crusaders still managed to pull within three before the Bulldogs pulled away. 

• The residents of Mesquite should be very pleased to have the Morris family in town.  Freshmen Rachel Morris had 11 blocks and two key ones at the end of the game for the Lady Bulldogs.  MesquiteLocal reported after the game she’s 35 away from the Southern 3A record of 147.  We also hear her older brother, junior Anthony Morris, is doing pretty darn well controlling the paint for the Virgin Valley boys.  He has 95 blocked shots so far, according to MaxPreps.com.

• But Morris and his Bulldogs were no match for a finely tuned Faith Lutheran team.  The Crusaders have a very skilled, very athletic and very balanced group.  They also have a coach who isn’t easily pleased.  Instead of praising a blowout win, coach Bret Walter pointed toward things he feels the team must work on moving forward, such as not becoming complacent, even with a 20-point lead.

• That’s a lesson for all of you who are trying to improve your games.  Never be satisfied.  Always look for things that you can work on, because there always are.

Other Tidbits

• Faith Lutheran has an excellent pep band.

• A large group of Virgin Valley faithful made the hour trip to the game.  Green shirts in attendance rivaled the amount of home-team supporters.

• Virgin Valley head coach Kirk Brotherson has coached in Mesquite since 1970.  Mesquite has grown a lot since then.  However, Mesquite “the city” still feels like Mesquite “the dusty little town” in some ways.  “I think I have seven kids that I coached their parents,” Brotherson said.  “Even though Mesquite’s grown a ton, it’s still the same people getting the job done.”

• Bulldog guard Courtney Spawn has got game.  She had 20 points on Friday, which is close to her average.  She does a lot of her damage with the three but also has the handles to get buckets in the paint or get to the foul line.

• Crusader forward Diontea Wright also has game.  The senior can jump out of the gym.  He put down a baseline alleyoop slam on the Bulldogs.  He’s got nice range on his jumper as well.  He also plays smart and stays within the system.