HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Brittany Orr, 10, of Pahrump Valley makes a move against Las Vegas Faith Lutheran in a Southern Nevada Class 3-A League basketball game last season. Advertisement

The Pahrump Valley girls' basketball team will open the 2007-2008 season Thursday in the Pepsi Shootout at River Valley, Ariz., High School.

The Trojans, coached by Bob Hopkins, will play Needles, Calif., at 3 p.m. and Chino, Calif., at 7 p.m. in preliminary games Thursday. Also in the tournament are Blythe, Calif., Palo Verde; Escondido, Calif., San Pasqual; Bullhead City, Ariz., Mohave, and host River Valley.

Bracket games will be played Friday and Saturday, with the Trojans taking on Palo Verde in a first-round game at 1:30 p.m. Friday. Other first-round pairings are Needles-Chino and Mohave-San Pasqual, with River Valley drawing a bye.

Succeeding bracket contests are scheduled at 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Friday, and all day Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m. All times are Mountain Standard.

Hopkins, whose 2006-2007 team finished 30-4, won the Southern Nevada Class 3-A league (at 8-0) and regional titles, then fell to Spring Creek in the state finals.

In the last six seasons, the PV girls have won 152 and lost just 33, with the Class of 2007 finishing 109-22, with two Nevada 3-A championships.

The team includes seven seniors, two juniors and three freshmen. Back from last season:

Kristie Daffer, 6-foot junior center;

Brittany Orr, 5-4 senior guard;

Brittney Lindgren, 5-2 senior guard;

Megan Meads, 5-10 senior post,

Christine Gamble, 5-11 senior post and

Ashley Humbert, 5-2 junior guard;

Courtney Salmon, a 5-5 senior guard, played some minutes with the varsity last season, but was primarily a junior varsity starter.

Moving up to the varsity from a strong Rosemary Clarke Middle School team are freshmen Casey Scheller, a 5-10 forward; Ashley Lindgren, a 5-4 guard, and Alyson Kunzi, a 5-8 forward. Ashley is Brittney Lindgren's sister; Alyson is the sister of former PVHS guard Amanda Kunzi.

The last time at least three freshmen were on the varsity roster was in the 2002-2003 season, when Veronica Villa, Darla Hopkins and Sarah Coleman played for a team that finished 24-3 and lost in the regional finals. When the Class of 2006 graduated, Pahrump Valley had won 104 of 120 games and two state championships.

Completing the roster were Shandy Malic, a 5-1 senior guard, and Stephanie Taylor, a 5-7 senior forward.

The Class of 2008 is 77-22 and how those seven seniors play will dictate how well PVHS handles a difficult schedule.

The Trojans play in the River Valley tournament this weekend, host the Pahrump Valley Trojans Cage Classic Dec. 6-7-8, and will compete in the Las Vegas Classic at Centennial High School Dec. 27-28-29. One of the Trojans' opponents in the latter tournament will be Reno Galena, coached by former Tonopah and University of Nevada standout Karen Friel.

"I think this team will be all right," said Hopkins. "They've been great to work with; actually, the only problem we have is to find out who our point guard will be. Fortunately, we will be playing a lot of games before the league season begins (Feb. 8 at Las Vegas Faith Lutheran)."

Hopkins will experiment with a number of lineups, including one that will have forwards-post Daffer, Gamble and Meads on the floor with guards Orr and Brittney Lindgren.

The Trojans will attack on the run; defensively, watch for them to defend with an up-tempo full-court game.

"Faith Lutheran (13-14 in all games, 5-3 league in 2006-2007) will have a good team ... Virgin Valley (15-9, 3-5) will be improved ... Boulder City (11-8, 4-4) might have the league's best player (Caiti Forrester) ...watch for Moapa Valley (8-14, 0-8) to improve," said Hopkins, assessing the league opposition.

The PV girls will play Class 4-A Las Vegas Cheyenne, Las Vegas Vo-Tech, Chaparral and Henderson Green Valley, along with Galena and St. Thomas (La.); 2-A power Lincoln County; 1-A title threat Pahranagat Valley Alamo, and Hurricane, Utah.

"One of the things we will work on is to play the zone," said Hopkins, whose teams have always been tenaciously man-to-man. "Remember, one of the state championships we won was because we played the 1-3-1 (2005, in a 40-38 conquest of Winnemucca Lowry at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno).

Doing preseason work in the Ninth Grade Academy gym hasn't been a problem, but when the reconstruction of the PVHS gym floor will be finished is of concern.

Tuesday, the PVHS boys opened their season in the academy gym against Lake Mead Christian Academy. The next home appearances for the Trojan girls and boys is Dec. 6, in the first round of the Pahrump Valley Times Trojans Cage Classic.

If the floor isn't finished, the tournament will be played in the academy and Rosemary Clarke Middle School gyms.

NOTES -- River Valley girls basketball coach Larry Moore was also on the Colorado River Union School District board -- until he chose to resign from that political position a week ago ... Because he has only the basketball coaching job left to do, Moore is working with a Dust Devils' team that is led by 5-5 senior guard Frankie Diaz and 5-3 junior point guard Anessa Delmont ... Corine Massey, a 5-8 post, and Kristen Contreras, a 5-8 forward, along with 5-5 guard Kathleen Wilson will complete the RVHS lineup ... Mohave opened the 2007-2008 season with a 37-32 win against Bradshaw Mountain last week ... The Thunderbirds are coached by Dan Perry, whose team is led by forward Zeyda Trinidad ... Leticia Slowtaker, Courtney James and Talisha Lobato are other key players for Mohave ... Spring Creek, Nevada's defending Class 3-A state champion, is ranked No. 7 in the Maxpreps preseason state basketball ratings ... The Spartans were 16-0 in the Northern League and were 27-3 in all games, but the architect of that success, point guard Johnna Ward, is now at the University of Nevada-Reno ... No. 1 in the Maxpreps ratings for Nevada is defending 4-A state champion Las Vegas Bishop Gorman ... Centennial is No. 2, with Sparks Reed No. 3.

.. Durango, with Lindy LaRocque back for her senior season, is No. 4, with Reno No. 5 ... Galena is No. 6 and following Spring Creek are Reno Bishop Manogue, Carson and Las Vegas Shadow Ridge.