DON McDERMOTT MORE COLUMNS Advertisement

RENO -- How smart am I? A month ago, I made reservations to fly to Reno and go to the Nevada State Basketball tournaments this weekend, whether Pahrump Valley or any other Nye County team qualified -- or stayed home.

It's no secret that I have a certain fondness for Reno, the biggest little city in the world where everything I need seems to next door, at least in spirit, if not presence.

Nah, Pahrump Valley qualifying for the state tournament was not the reason I rationalized a month ago. I'm not THAT smart, nor that psychic. Pahrump Valley's girls had just lost 42-38 to Virgin Valley in a Southern Nevada Class 3-A League game and didn't look cool falling to the Bulldogs in a rough-and-tumble battle at Mesquite.

Coach Bob Hopkins got together with his team the following Monday and worked out some kinks in the Trojans' defensive techniques. Actually, he's the smart one and the girls he coaches are quick learners. In nine games since that fateful January night, the PV girls are on a 9-0 blitz, outscoring opponents by 20 points per game.

The Trojans avenged that loss to Virgin Valley in a 35-33 struggle and a week later, held off equally tenacious Las Vegas Faith Lutheran 34-30 to climb back into contention for not only the league title, but a No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Last week, they concluded the march to state by beating always-dangerous Moapa Valley and a Faith Lutheran team that had stunned potent Virgin Valley in double-overtime.

The Trojans battle underrated Truckee, Calif., 13-14, at 11 a.m., in a state semifinal game in the Lawlor Events Center on the University of Nevada campus. Northern regional champion Winnemucca Lowry, 14-14, will play Yerington, 27-5, at 2:20 p.m. The title clash is at 3:20 p.m. Saturday.

Of course, I am rooting for Pahrump Valley wins both today and Saturday. That would mean that this crusty ol' sportswriter has covered 12 state championship Pahrump Valley teams in the not-quite seven years I have been sports editor of the Times.

Nothing makes writing easier than knocking out happy prose about a winner; before coming to Nevada from Ohio, I had covered two Philadelphia Flyer hockey teams that won the Stanley Cup, a high school football team that won five Ohio titles in nine years and I have lost count of how many individuals who took home state championship hardware in every sport from baseball to wrestling, from softball to lacrosse.

Nothing is more challenging that explaining how our favorite athletes did not succeed in competition (but always thinking about them as special individuals trying to achieve a difficult objective).

Fred Shero, who coached those Flyer teams to back-to-back NHL titles, had a unique take on what was going on with his team.

"We have no minor players on this team, just minor roles for them to succeed in," said the coach, affectionately known as 'The Shadow."

And so it is in high school athletics, to a degree. Play hard, leave everything on the court, do as well as you can. And where the fun comes in, is winning -- or knowing in your heart, you have done your best.