Barring errors in the record, Friday's contest between the Pahrump Valley and Truckee (Calif.) girls' basketball teams will mark the first time the Trojans and Wolverines will have met in the sport.

And what a time that to happen for the teams, coached by Bob Hopkins and Angelo Tenorio. It's a semifinal showdown in the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association-sanctioned Class 3-A state tournament and will start at 11 a.m. in the Lawlor Events Center on the University of Nevada campus in Reno.

How did the Truckee girls advance to the state tournament?

During the Northern Nevada Class 3-A campaign, the Wolverines were 8-6 in league games and got the No. 5 seed for the playoffs, contested last Thursday through Saturday at Elko High School.

Truckee left little doubt that its No. 5 seed was merely a procedural decision. The Wolverines got 21 points from freshman Megan Shalvis and 11 from senior Lindsay Holt as they bounced two-time defending state champion Spring Creek 44-42.

In the semifinals, Truckee crushed short-handed Dayton 48-27 to gain a berth in the finals against Winnemucca Lowry, which had outlasted Yerington 58-54.

Yerington grabbed the North's No. 3 seed for the state semifinals with a 47-35 conquest of Dayton; the Dust Devils played the regionals without leading scorer Chanelle Thompson-Brennan, who had been suspended along with one other player.

Lowry won the regional title -- and got the North's No. 1 seed at state -- with a 31-26 survival test against Truckee. The Wolverines led 18-11 at halftime, did not score in the third quarter and were outpointed 14-8 by the Buckaroos in the final eight minutes to sustain their 14th loss in 27 games.

Tenorio told reporters Saturday that "I am very happy with where the girls are right now; I think they're peaking at the right time.

"Defensively, the girls worked so hard together ... that gave us an opportunity to win those two games," said the coach. "The girls are coming together; it was a true team effort."

Shalvis is the lone freshman on the varsity roster, which includes four seniors and nine juniors.

The seniors are Alexis Fallow, Nicole Panziera, Kelly Stephens and Alysha Walker, but statistically, the Wolverine leaders are juniors Breanne Busby and Holt, who had 14 points each in the win against Dayton.

Busby is averaging 11 ppg, with a high of 18 against Sparks and 17 against Dayton.