The Tonopah and Beatty girls basketball teams have an important battle tonight, and it's not just for Nye County bragging rights.

Beatty, 5-3 in division games, is assured of a berth in the Southern Nevada Class A regional tournament. Tonopah, even though it has a 3-6 Central Division record, can earn a No. 4 seed with a win against their county rivals.

The girls regionals begin Tuesday, with first-round games on higher seeds courts. The semifinals are Thursday at Durango High School in Las Vegas, with the title game Saturday at Del Sol.

The probable first-round pairings Tuesday are:

No. 4 Central (Tonopah) at No. 1 South (Las Vegas Mountain View Christian or Pahranagat Valley Alamo),

No. 3 South (Lake Mead Christian Academy) at No. 2 Central (Lund),

No. 3 Central (Beatty) at No. 2 South (Alamo or Mountain View), and

No. 4 South (Las Vegas Calvary Chapel) at No. 1 Central (Round Mountain).

The semifinals are at Durango High School in Las Vegas Feb. 15, with the finals at Del Sol Feb. 16.

The top two teams in both girls and boys divisions advance to the state tournament, to be played in Reno Feb. 22-23.

The Tonopah girls were 1-2 in league games last week, beating Indian Springs 55-40 and losing 28-23 to division leader Round Mountain and 69-35 to second-place Lund.

Round Mountain's Lady Knights are already assured of the No. 1 Central seed, after their 44-35 win against Lund. Indian Springs, 2-6 and in fifth place, is up against it.

The Thunderbirds have games remaining against Central powers Lund today and Round Mountain Saturday, when the Hornets are home against Lund.

Last weekend, the Beatty girls (8-8) defeated Henderson International School and lost 48-38 to Lund.

Coach Eddie Cobb's Tonopah team is 5-12 in all games, including a 47-40 loss at Beatty last month.

Beatty's boys are 4-6, 6-13, after sweeping Henderson and Round Mountain (37-31) last weekend. The Hornets, however, have no shot at the playoffs.

Pending the outcome of games tonight and Saturday, the top four seeds for first-round games Wednesday will go to Lund, Spring Mountain, Tonopah and Henderson International School.

The South playoff teams will be top-seeded Lake Mead Christian Academy (27-1), Pahranagat Valley Alamo, defending state champion Las Vegas Trinity and Las Vegas Mountain View Christian.

First-day playoff games will start at 6 p.m., both Tuesday and Wednesday.

Semifinal contests at Durango will begin at 3 p.m., 4:40, 6:20 and 8. The championship contests are at noon and 1:40 p.m. Saturday at Del Sol.

Tonopah, coached by Jay McLauchlin, defeated Indian Springs 42-34 but lost 58-48 to Lund last weekend; the Muckers edged the Brian Hayes-coached Hornets 41-40 in Beatty last month.

Tonight's game is the division finale for Tonopah, which will celebrate Seniors Night. Beatty, Indian Springs (1-8, 4-13) and Round Mountain (1-9, 3-19) have been eliminated from playoff consideration.

Spring Mountain played at home against Henderson Tuesday and went to International School Thursday. Lund is at Indian Springs Friday and at Beatty Saturday.

Northern 1-A playoff games are scheduled Feb. 14-15-16 at the Events Center and at Lowry High School in Winnemucca.

Times are to be announced for first-round games. Feb. 15 contests will be at Lowry at 3 p.m., 4:40, 6:20 and 8, while the title games, at the Convention Center, will start at noon and 1:40 p.m.