DON McDERMOTT MORE COLUMNS HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Bob Hopkins directs the action for the Pahrump Valley High School girls' basketball team he coached for 13 seasons. The veteran coach, with 479 career wins, won't be back in the 2008-2009 season, when the Trojans move into Class 4-A. Advertisement

Bob Hopkins won't be back as the Pahrump Valley High School girls' basketball coach next season.

But I am not one of those so-it-is-written, so-it-shall-be kind of writers. The 2008-2009 season will offer so many unique challenges, it is difficult to believe Hopkins -- never one to avoid a showdown -- won't be on the sidelines directing the maroon-and-gold in their toughest test ever -- competing in their first season in Class 4-A.

Pahrump Valley is moving from the Southern Nevada Class 3-A League to the 4-A Sunset Region Southwest Division -- a group of schools which includes defending state champion Bishop Gorman, the always dangerous Durango Trailblazers, and Sierra Vista, which had been a fixture on the Trojans' schedule for several years before the series took a hiatus this past season.

The 2008-2009 Lady Trojans, barring any number of situations, will include:

Kristi Daffer, a first-team all-state 6-foot senior center. Daffer averaged 9.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in 30 games during the regular season;

Ashley Humbert, a 5-2 senior guard. Bothered by injuries, Humbert appeared in only 21 games, scoring 3.1 points per game;

Alyson Kunzi, a 5-8 sophomore guard. In her freshman season, Kunzi averaged 3.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists,1.8 steals and 3.0 turnovers per game in 30 varsity appearances.

Ashley Lindgren, a 5-4 sophomore guard. Lindgren, as a freshman, divided her time between the varsity and JVs; in 61 varsity quarters, she scored 26 points, had 21 rebounds, had 17 assists and 20 steals with 20 turnovers.

Casey Scheller, a 5-10 sophomore post. Scheller displayed some excellent post position moves, appearing in 30 games. She averaged 4.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game as the primary post backup.

The schedule includes going to a tournament at River Valley, Ariz., to start the season, and the Las Vegas Classic at Centennial during the Christmas-New Year's holiday break, as well as 16 Southwest contests. At this time, the status of the Pahrump Valley Times Trojans Cage Classic is to be determined.

In the 2007-2008 season, the PV girls were 3-5 against bigger classification schools, including a 1-4 record in the Las Vegas Classic.

Three all-state Class 4-A players from Southwest Division schools return in the 2008-2009 season, including:

Mia Bell, Durango, a 5-6 rising senior who averaged 15.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 3.4 steals per game for the TrailBlazers;

Aaryn Ellenberg, who will be a junior at Bishop Gorman; the 5-6 guard averaged 13.6 points, 2.8 steals and 2.4 assists per game for the three-time state champion Gaels, and

Danielle Diamant, a 6-4 rising senior who scored 12.2 points and grabbed eight rebounds per game for Bishop Gorman's 29-4 team that defeated Reno in the state championship game last month.

Hopkins belongs on the sidelines; the possibility that he won't be is totally annoying to any body who knows how hard he worked in preparing Pahrump Valley girl basketball players for the rigorous trials and tribulations of a difficult schedule for 13 seasons.

Hopkins took the blame following his team's 51-43, double-overtime loss to underdog Truckee, Calif., in the Nevada 3-A state semifinals.

"I didn't work them hard enough to get them ready," said Hopkins. Then again, the team did not play with any sense of urgency -- that is something only the players can control.

There were distractions, not of his making in the 2007-2008 season. First, he took over as interim athletics director following the meltdown of Brian Hug during the fall sports season .

Second, there were some situations involving parents. One complained to me about how hard the girls have to play in game situations, that Hopkins "had them running too hard." Another adult took one of the Lady Trojans aside during a timeout at the Del Sol regionals.

And too often, certain veteran players let down their teammates in critical game situations, putting Hopkins in a tough situation. He had some of those players on the court because he believes in loyalty; they helped the team achieve an esceptional level of success and deserved to be on the court.

We could go on ... but the bottom line is, Hopkins belongs on the sidelines running the girls' basketball program that produced 265 victories and two state championships in 13 seasons. If he doesn't return, then the Nye County School District administration better do no less than a statewide search to find a suitable replacement.

Having someone like a Karen Friel, a former Tonopah High School and University of Nevada-Reno standout, would be excellent. Her Galena High School teams have been highly competitive over the years; Karen knows the game ... and maybe she knows somebody who might be ready to take over a solid program like Pahrump Valley's. Or go to people like Alamo's Amy Huntsman, former Durango coach Al LaRocque, or Bishop Gorman's Sheryl Krmpotich. Ask them the same questions.

Pahrump Valley girls' basketball has achieved such a level of importance, anything less than a highly-organized effort to find a suitable replacement will be a major disappointment.

Of course, girls' basketball is just one sport offered at PVHS. The same philosophy -- finding the best possible coach for any other of the programs offered to Trojan athletes -- should apply.