HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Marvin Weekly, 23, (above) and Alexis Abou-Halaka (44) and Ashley Lindgren (32) (below) will play for Pahrump Valley High School basketball teams in tournaments at Las Vegas today through Tuesday. Advertisement

Depending on how the economy fares between now and the time 2009-2010 basketball schedules are completed, Pahrump Valley's Christmas-New Year's tournament trips -- a major part of the schedule for the last seven years -- may be trimmed -- or eliminated to reduce expenses.

The Trojans' boys team is in the Vegas Invitational at Mountain View Christian School in Las Vegas today through Tuesday. Previous trips in recent seasons at this time of the year have taken PVHS to Winnemucca and Bishop (Calif.).

For the seventh straight year, Pahrump Valley's girls are in the Centennial High School-sponsored Las Vegas Holiday Classic, starting Saturday.

Budget cuts could limit travel by PVHS teams, not only in basketball, but every other Trojan sport in not only the 2009-2010 season, but for years to come. These decisions are being discussed now by school administrators, not only at the county level but state-wide as well.

These holiday tournaments have provided valuable experience for Trojan teams, making them more competitive at the league, regional and state levels. But, decisions about the future are not the concern of PVHS athletes, at the moment.

Coaches Lonnie Shereck (boys) and Jason Odegard (girls) are concerned about their teams and the opponents they will tangle with in these holiday tournaments.

Needles (9:30 a.m. today at Mountain View Christian) was a Nevada Class 2-A state runnerup team in the 2007-2008 season; two starters -- Darra Russell, a 6-1 shooting guard, and Steve Kidd, a 6-foot point guard -- return for coach Jeff Plunk's team that finished 19-7 after losing to Lincoln County in the finals.

The Mustangs are 9-3 this season. The Trojans are 4-5, but they have not played since Dec. 15 (a 62-48 loss to Sunset Region Southwest Class 4-A Division rival Clark).

The MVC tournament is a completely-bracketed event, with teams playing just one game a day. The Trojans will face either River Valley (Ariz.) or Class 4-A Las Vegas Vo-Tech Saturday.

Mesa (Ariz.) Dobson will play the PVHS girls at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Centennial. Dobson is 9-4 against Arizona opponents. Pahrump Valley is 9-2, but the team has not played since defeating Clark 67-35 in a Southwest contest Dec. 15.

Out of the Class 5-A East Valley League, Dobson is outscoring opponents 62-47 per game.

Kameron Knutson, a 6-foot-4 junior center, leads Dobson, which has five seniors on its 15-player varsity roster.

Also on Saturday,the Trojans will battle Henderson Coronado and Las Vegas Mojave.

Pahrump Valley has already played Coronado, bowing 39-36 in a non-division game in early December. Three starters, including senior forward Lindsay Decker, returned from a 6-18 squad.

Mojave's Rattlers were 25-7 in 2007-2008 and have four starters returning, including senior post Terry'a Hymon. Chelsea Hopkins, one of Nevada's leading girls scorers, is now at Duke University.

The Trojans will tangle with Anchorage (Alaska) Dimond and Douglas Minden on Monday.

Pahrump Valley teams return to Southwest Division action Jan. 6 at home against Bishop Gorman. To be rescheduled: a Southwest doubleheader against Durango; it was postponed by bad weather last week.