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Mesquite, Nev.-- Looks can be deceiving.

At least that is what Moffat County High School boys basketball coach Mike LeWarne learned Thursday as his Bulldogs only trailed for a short time in the second quarter and beat Virgin Valley, Nev., 44-35.

"Watching (Virgin Valley) in the warm up, I thought we were going to have a tough match up because of their height and they looked pretty good," he said. "I knew if we played like we did last weekend we were going to have a long night."

LeWarne's team made sure from the tip off that a different team showed up in the opener of the Virgin Valley Holiday Cactus Classic.

"They came out intense from the start and out-hustled Virgin Valley," LeWarne said. "It was a great effort for us tonight."

The Bulldogs in blue -- Virgin Valley is green and shares the same mascot -- stopped the hosts the first four times down the court with three turnovers and a blocked shot by senior Anthony Loughran. Senior Cody Palmer scored two quick baskets to put Moffat County up 4-0.

"It was great to get those early stops against a good, athletic team like that," said Palmer, who finished with nine points. "I think they came out thinking they were going to have an easy win and then we broke out like that to surprise them."

Moffat County had lost to the green Bulldogs the last two years they had come to the tournament, so the opening win served as revenge and a confidence builder.

"I think we took it personal that they scheduled us in the opener," Loughran said. "They were looking for the automatic win and it backfired on them."

Loughran led the Bulldogs with 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots in the first half and Moffat County went into halftime with a 28-21 lead.

"We shut down their pick-and-roll right away and their set offense wasn't effective," LeWarne said. "We just couldn't pull away on offense."

Virgin Valley wanted to make sure the blue Bulldogs didn't pull away in the second half by switching to a zone defense. The zone slowed down the Moffat County offense as it only scored 16 points in the second half.

"We put in a new zone offense this year and it is taking them a little bit to understand," LeWarne said. "Our zone offense is more methodical than last year and they are still trying to run last year's offense."

While the offense was struggling Virgin Valley couldn't rip the nets often either. They never got closer than seven points in the second half to Moffat County. With 2:12 remaining in the game a series that included a missed two-point shot and three-point shot by the home Bulldogs and then two free throws by senior Georgie Raftopoulos ended Virgin Valley's chances.

"We hit big shots all night," LeWarne said. "This game effort won't only help us in the tournament but later on down the road this season."

With the win the Bulldogs move on in the winner's bracket to face Richfield, Utah tonight at 7:15 pm Pacific time. The Bulldogs had a chance to watch their next opponent in the game before theirs.

"They looked pretty good," said sophomore Derek Duran of what he was from Richfield during its 64-25 win against White Pine, Nev. "We can't let down if we want to win."

Palmer didn't think there was a chance for a poor performance.

"Once you come off a big game like this it's hard to lose momentum," he said.

The Bulldogs will find out if that is the case tonight starting at 7:15 p.m. Check the Saturday Morning Press to see if the Moffat County boys could keep their winning ways about them.

David Pressgrove can be reached at 824-7031 or dpressgrove@craigdailypress.com.