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Members of the Las Vegas High girls basketball after winning the Class 4A state title over Desert Pines on Feb. 25, 2023, at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023 | 9:40 p.m.
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Layla Faught started her journey to the high school basketball state championship game Saturday afternoon in the gym of her church.
The Las Vegas High School point guard put up 100 free throws in preparation of the tilt against Desert Pines, sensing the outcome would be close and wanting to be prepared.
As fate would have it, Faught got fouled with 3.9 seconds remaining and the game tied. She calmly sank both free throws, and the Wildcats claimed their first title since 1978 with a 51-49 win.
“I shot the 100 before I got here so I could make two or three (with the game on the line),” she said.
Las Vegas trailed by double digits entering the fourth quarter, but Faught had 14 of her game-high 27 points over the final eight minutes in willing her team to victory. Kayla Terry had six of her 15 points in the final quarter, combing with Faught for a one-two punch Desert Pines couldn’t contain.
As the Wildcats slowly started to trim the deficit, Faught said she never lost confidence — even with time quickly ticking off the clock at the Thomas & Mack Center.
“This is what the early mornings and late nights (of practice) are about,” Las Vegas coach La Shondra Rayford said. “I tell them every day in practice that I’ve never seen a champion stand on the podium accepting a trophy and saying how easy it was. We practice every single day for this moment.”
Not many schools in Southern Nevada can say they have the history of Las Vegas, the area’s original high school with more than 100 years of history.
Rayford pointed to the program’s cheering section and raved about the amount of supporters who turned out.
“This means a lot to the entire community,” the coach said. “You see how they showed out? We won this for everybody.”
Trista Mabry led Desert Pines with 10 points.
