HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT The Pahrump Valley High School boys' basketball team will practice today, Thursday and Friday in the Ninth Grade Academy gym. Advertisement

After playing 20 games in December, the Pahrump Valley High School boys' basketball team will take a break. But what a return to action the Trojans will have.

With a record of 12-8, the Trojans will be back on the court Tuesday in a Southern Nevada Class 3-A clash with defending league, regional and state champion Las Vegas Faith Lutheran. The tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.

The Faith Lutheran boys are 8-6, with all but two of their games against Class 4-A or larger opponents.

On Jan. 11, the Trojans go to Mesquite to play the Bulldogs, 8-7 in games played through Dec. 29. Virgin Valley's boys are 8-7, while the Lady Bulldogs are 8-3.

Pahrump Valley was 2-2 in the Bishop, Calif., Invitational last weekend. Coach Lonnie Shereck's team defeated Arcadia, Calif., Rio Hondo 47-38 and Lone Pine, Calif., 58-43, before bowing 47-45 in overtime to Bishop. In a third-place game played Saturday, the Trojans lost 80-58 to Hesperia, Calif., a school with more than 2,500 students.

Against Rio Hondo, point guard Darius Dolly scored 20 points for the Trojans, who controlled the tempo throughout the game.

Dolly had 20 points and guard Marvin Weekley added 13 in the victory against Lone Pine.

The Trojans trailed by 12 points in the first half against Bishop and were down by nine going into the final period of regulation. The Broncos got the lead early in overtime and held off the Trojans. In the championship game Saturday, Bishop was beaten by Northern Nevada Class 4-A Elko.

Dolly and 6-6 Trent Ward had 13 points each against Bishop.

In the battle for third place, Hesperia jumped to a 20-point lead in the first half and never let up against the Trojans. Dolly had 19 points and Ward eight against the Californians.

"We won't practice again until Wednesday (today)," said Shereck. "And we will practice again Thursday and Friday afternoons."

The Trojans got a chance to see Dayton, the 2006-2007 Northern 3-A champion, play in the Bishop tournament. The Dust Devils were 2-2, beating Mineral County Hawthorne and Lone Pine, and losing to Hesperia and Elko (which looked really strong, according to Shereck).

As for the 3-A league campaign, Shereck believes his team can be competitive, "but everybody will be chasing Faith Lutheran again," said the coach. "If we have everybody, I think we will do all right."

The Pahrump Valley-Faith Lutheran game Jan. 8 was originally scheduled to be played at home. It was switched because the PVHS main gym is being reconstructed after being damaged by water during a September storm. That project is supposed to be completed by the end Jan. 11, according to interim athletics director Bob Hopkins.

Pahrump Valley's remaining boys league games, after Jan. 11, are against:

Boulder City, home, Jan. 19;

Overton Moapa Valley, home, Jan. 22;

Faith Lutheran, home, Jan. 25;

Virgin Valley, home, Feb. 1;

Boulder City, there, Feb. 5, and

Moapa Valley, there, Feb. 8.

Non-league games are Jan. 16, at Pahranagat Valley Alamo and Jan. 29, home vs. Las Vegas Trinity (the state 1-A defending champion). A game against Amargosa Valley Horizon Academy is scheduled, but a site has yet to be determined.

The Southern 3-A regionals will be played Feb. 14 and 16 at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas. The state tournament is Feb. 22-23 at the Lawlor Events Center on the University of Nevada campus in Reno.