HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Vanessa Veloz, 10, above, and Chase Williams, below, are Pahrump Valley High School senior basketball players competing in their final games tonight at home against Southwest Class 4-A opponent Spring Valley. Advertisement

Four losses by nine points separated Pahrump Valley's girls from a berth in the Sunset Region Class 4-A basketball playoffs.

The latest heartbreaker came Wednesday night, when Pahrump Valley lost 57-56 at Bonanza in a Southwest Division game, decided when Aimee Doyle scored the game-winning basket on a short runner with 0.8 seconds left.

The loss dropped PVHS to 8-7 in the division; the other tough-luck losses were 50-49 to Sierra Vista, 58-55 to Durango and 66-62 to Bonanza.

Only the top four in each of the four girls' divisions in Las Vegas advance to the regionals, to be played next week. The Trojans, 17-14 in all games, are in fifth place in the Southwest, with their final start at home today (5 p.m.) against Spring Valley (4-11 division, 4-13).

Bonanza, which led 36-20 at the half, trailed 56-55 with 4.8 seconds left. Pahrump Valley fouled Bonanza twice, giving the Bengals the ball under their basket in the final second. Doyle connected off an inbounds pass.

Christin Figgins led Bonanza with 19 points. Shirley Pitts scored 16 and Doyle 11 for the Bengals.

Alyson Kunzi had 15 points, Kristi Daffer 13, Casey Scheller 12 and Ashley Lindgren 11 for the Trojans.

Assured of playoff berths from the Southwest Division are defending state champion Bishop Gorman (15-0, 24-3), Durango (12-4, 23-9) Bonanza (12-3, 23-4) and Sierra Vista (10-5, 21-9).

Elsewhere in the division:

Durango 52, Sierra Vista 50 -- At Durango, Mia Bell drove coast to coast, hitting a baseline jumper at the buzzer to give Durango the win. Bell had 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Trailblazers. Jasmine Suarez scored 19 points for Durango. Teena Baxter led Sierra Vista with 18 points. Jeanette Jackson added 14 points for the Mountain Lions.

Western 57, Desert Oasis 53 -- At Desert Oasis, Melanie Russell led four scorers in double figures with 13 points as the Warriors (3-12, 3-15) held on to beat the Diamondbacks (3-12, 4-19).Western trailed by one point going into the fourth quarter and outscored Desert Oasis 19-14. Brandi Jackson tallied 11 points and Daresheoun Lee and Michelle Simon 10 each for Western. Auburn Smith had 21 points and Trini Morgan 15 points and 10 rebounds for Desert Oasis.

Spring Valley 54, Clark 42 -- At Clark, Chyna Wimberly poured in 29 points to lead the Grizzlies past the Chargers (1-14, 1-16). Spring Valley led by two points at halftime but took control in the third and fourth quarters. Angelena Cook led Clark with 16 points, and teammate Tarah Murph had 10.

* In boys basketball, Andrew Whiting scored 18 points and Dasean Martin 13 as Bonanza's Bengals prevailed 59-36 in a Southwest game against the visiting Trojans Wednesday.

John Grady contributed 10 points and 13 rebounds for Bonanza (5-10 division, 7-15), which led by five at halftime and outscored Pahrump 23-7 in the third quarter. Tyler True led Pahrump Valley (0-15, 7-22) with eight points.

Desert Oasis 70, Western 54 -- At Desert Oasis, Cameron Mich'l had 22 points and eight rebounds as Desert Oasis' boys basketball team kept alive its playoff hopes by defeating Western. Anthony Lianzo added 21 points for the Diamondbacks (7-8, 11-15), who moved within one game of the Warriors (8-7, 13-11) for the final playoff spot in the Southwest League. Zack Bobenhausen added 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Cameron Jefferson had 12 rebounds. Johnnie Diggs and Melvin Washington each had 15 points to lead Western. Deion Harrell added 11 points.

Spring Valley 62, Clark 44 -- At Clark, Corey Clement and Anton Stallworth combined for 27 points in the second half as Spring Valley overcame a 23-20 halftime deficit to beat the Chargers.

Clement led Spring Valley with 18 points, 14 of those in the second half. Esteban Gonzalez added 14 points. Stallworth scored all 13 of his points in the second half.

Rabbit Toler led Clark with 16 points, and teammate Isidro Garcia added 12 points.

The boxscores

Bonanza boys 59

Pahrump Valley 36

PAHRUMP VALLEY (36)

Amburgey 5, Estes 1, Anderson 4, Holley 3, Weekly 7, True 8, Williams 4, Lindemann 4. Totals 15 3-6 36.

BONANZA (59)

Whiting 18, Vu 2, Mitchell 5, Matt 5, D. Martin 13, Kelly 4, Grady 10, Romero 2. Totals 24 6-11 36.

PVHS 11 9 7 9--36

Bonanza 16 9 23 11--59

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Bonanza girls 57

Pahrump Valley 56

PAHRUMP VALLEY (56)

Simmons 3, Kunzi 15, Lindgren 11, Hamrick 2, Daffer 13, Scheller 12. Totals 20 13-18 56.

BONANZA (57)

A. Pitts 4, Beals 5, Figgins 19, Duncan 2, S. Pitts 16, Doyle 11. Totals 23 6-12 57.

PVHS 12 8 20 16 -56

Bonanza 15 21 13 8 -57