DON McDERMOTT / PVT Spring Creek's Lacey Rider, 12, moves the ball upcourt Saturday, in the Spartans' 69-42 rout of Winnemucca Lowry in the girls' 3-A state title basketball game. DON McDERMOTT / PVT Boulder City's Preston Swasey, 40, soars for a basket, in the Eagles' 62-46 conquest of Overton Moapa Valley in the Nevada Class 3-A Boys State championship game at The Orleans Arena Saturday. Max Jenkins, 23, and Jake Pearce, 4, watch for Moapa Valley. Advertisement

LAS VEGAS -- With the four-year reign of Faith Lutheran over, the battle for the Nevada Class 3-A boys' basketball championship was wide open, with Overton Moapa Valley given the best chance to prevail.

But Boulder City's Eagles -- who had ousted Faith Lutheran in the Southern regionals -- had other ideas.

Friday, the Eagles, the No. 2 seed out of the South, stunned North No. 1 Winnemucca Lowry 59-56 at Desert Oasis High School.

Saturday, in The Orleans Arena, the Eagles dominated Moapa Valley 62-46 to claim their first state championship since 1999. Faith Lutheran had won 3-A championships from 2005 through 2008, but the Crusaders fell 62-54 to Boulder City in the regional semifinals at Desert Oasis.

The Eagles went 3-1 in the regionals and state tournaments and finished at 16-17. No one could remember if any team in Nevada state basketball history had ever won a state title and finished under .500 on the season.

"We played a tough schedule and we were at 11-15 just before the zone tournament," said Bobby Reese, "but I'll take winning a state championship with the record we have. This team had a lot of great leaders and tonight, they got us the lead early.

"We played 32 minutes of excellent basketball," said Reese. The Eagles scored the first 10 points Saturday and never gave up the lead in the game that was the fourth meeting with the Pirates this season. They split the four games, which included Moapa Valley's 63-55 victory in the Southern finals a week earlier.

One of Boulder City's 13 regular-season wins was a 58-55 conquest of former Southern rival Pahrump Valley.

"The kids believed in themselves all year long," said Reese. "We were a No. 4 seed, but we were losing some tough games. The kids kept their heads up, kept battling. Today is a testament to that."

Shane Levin had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Jeremy Smith had 10 points and 14 rebounds as the Eagles used a balanced attack to beat the 16-8 Pirates, who had advanced to the finals with 67-55 conquest of Spring Creek, the North's No. 2 seed.

Boulder City ran off to a 10-0 lead against the mistake-prone Pirates. Shaun Hilton's three-point play with 3 minutes and 20 seconds left in the first quarter finally got the Pirates on the board. But Hilton got into foul trouble and was rarely a factor the remainder of the game.

The Eagles used a 9-0 breakout to take a 24-11 lead with 3:39 left in the first half.

Brad Weiss, known more for his football skills, went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line to help the Pirates pull to within 24-22 at the half.

Another Eagles rally -- an 11-2 run in the third quarter -- broke open the game and the Eagles never looked back.

"Their kids worked hard," Moapa Valley coach Dallas Larsen said. "They came out and made some adjustments. They played a great game."

"I've never had a group of kids that has worked as hard as these kids," Reese said.

Weiss led the Pirates with 17 points, including an 8-for-8 effort at the free-throw line. Max Jenkins added 13 points for the Pirates.

"We just didn't hit shots," Larsen said. "We missed easy shots, and they hit their shots."

The biggest concern both coaches have now is what is going to happen to Class 3-A in the future. In the 2009-2010 season, the Southern League will be down to three schools -- the Eagles and Pirates, along with Mesquite Virgin Valley.

"I worry about that all the time," said Larson. "Something's got to happen soon ... it's a major headache for us all."

* In the girls championship game, Spring Creek made it three titles in four years with a 69-42 rout of Northern rival Winnemucca Lowry.

Spring Creek, 29-1, was 9-for-12 from the field in the third quarter as it took a 51-33 lead. The Spartans won state titles in 2006 and 2007, when Johnna Ward, now at the University of Nevada in Reno, was their leader. The Spartans lost in the state semifinals in 2004 and 2005, when Pahrump Valley claimed back-to-back championships.

Mary Suing, a 6-foot center, led Spring Creek with 17 points and nine rebounds. Lacy Rider (13), Andrea Empey (11) and Stacy Kerr (11) powered the Spartans to an easy win; those three girls played in Spring Creek's 46-33 win against Pahrump Valley in the 2007 state title game played in The Orleans Arena.

Julia Dufurrena had 10 points for Lowry, which finished 0-4 against Spring Creek this season. Yerington, which won the 2008 state title, was eliminated 39-34 by Winnemucca in the regional semifinals.

Boulder City's girls lost 49-41 to Lowry in the state semifinals, after winning the Southern regional title a week earlier. Spring Creek defeated Mesquite Virgin Valley 67-45 in the semis.