DON McDERMOTT / PVT Darius Dolly, 12, and Tito Ceballos, 34, return to the Pahrump Valley High School boys' basketball team for the 2007-2008 season, which starts Tuesday with the Trojans hosting Lake Mead Christian Academy in the Ninth Grade Academy gym. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. Advertisement

The Pahrump Valley High School boys' basketball team won't have a more challenging task this season than what it faces Tuesday, for a couple of major reasons.

One, the game will be played on the Ninth Grade Academy court, because the reconstruction project in the high school gym is at least three weeks (if not more) away from completion.

Two, the opposition is Lake Mead Christian Academy, one of Nevada's best teams, regardless of class. The Eagles were 1-A state runnersup in the 2006-2007 campaign and two key players from that team -- Jarid Dean and Landon Littlefield -- return for coach Jeff Newton.

The varsity game will start at 6 p.m. following preliminary contests at 3 and 4:30.

"We're excited about this season," said Lonnie Shereck, the Trojans' coach who guided PVHS to a 13-17 record in all games. Pahrump Valley was 1-1 in the Southern Nevada Class 3-A regionals (beating Boulder City 53-51 after trailing by 12 points at halftime and bowing 74-51 to eventual state champion Las Vegas Faith Lutheran) before bowing 41-32 in a defensive slugfest to Northern champion Dayton in the state semifinals.

In that loss to Dayton, the Trojans missed their first 15 3-point attempts, but still led the Dust Devils until early in the final quarter.

And the reason Shereck is enthused about the 2007-2008 team is the presence of several key players who helped Pahrump Valley to its first state tournament appearance since 2000.

Returning are 6-6 center Trent Ward, 5-6 point guard Darius Dolly, post player Tito Ceballos, wingman Don Gott and guard Gary Tatum.

Backing them up will be Marvin Weekley, Mike Amburgey, Tyler True, Shawn Johnson, Anthony Lear and newcomer Thomas Ciro.

"We have a lot more speed on the perimeter this season, so we should be able to play an up-tempo game," said Shereck. "Defensively, we should be put on the pressure, up and down the court."

The lack of depth in the post position could be a problem, so watch for the Trojans go on the attack with four guards and a center.

Shereck has been happy with the attitude of the team during preseason workouts. "We've been able to get everyone involved," said Shereck. "We expect to have key role players this season."

Faith Lutheran will again be the team to beat not only in the league and region, but in the state as well.

"They have three state MVPs in their lineup," said Shereck of coach Bret Walter's Crusader standouts Diontea Wright, Max Done and Connor Maloney. "I don't know of any team that can compete with them.

"Virgin Valley will have some size ... Boulder City lost some key players ... Moapa Valley is always tough to play," said Shereck. "All I know for sure is, we play a lot of games in December."

The Trojans will go to the Lake Mead Invitational Nov. 29-30-Dec. 1, and co-host the Pahrump Valley Times Trojans Cage Classic Dec. 6-7-8, as well as travel to the Bishop, Calif., Invitational Dec. 27-28-29 before launching league play in January.

The Southern regionals are Feb. 14 and 16 at Del Sol High School in east Las Vegas. Only the champion will advance to the state tournament, to be played Feb. 22-23 in the Lawlor Events Center on the University of Nevada campus in Reno.