DON McDERMOTT / PVT Tyler True, 30, defends against Las Vegas Trinity, in Pahrump Valley's 57-52 victory against the Thunder Saturday, in the Vegas Invitational Basketball tournament at Mountain View Christian School. Advertisement

LAS VEGAS -- After losing to Needles, Calif., in the first round, the Pahrump Valley boys' basketball team won three straight to claim the consolation championship in the Vegas Invitational Tournament, at Mountain View Christian School here.

The Trojans got to the consy finals by rallying past Las Vegas Trinity 57-52 and Calvary Chapel 45-41, then grabbed the title with a 55-41 conquest of the homestanding Saints Tuesday night.

The Trojans, 7-6, held the Saints to single-digit scoring in every quarter but the second on their way victory.

Pahrump Valley succeeded with a 2-3 zone defense designed to counter Mountain View's guard play, Trojans coach Lonnie Shereck said.

Mike Amburgey had 22 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots to lead Pahrump Valley. The Trojans also got 12 points and two steals from all-tourney selection Marvin Weekly, and Tyler True added seven points and seven assists.

Shereck, though, was disappointed with his team's 26 turnovers Monday against Calvary Chapel and 19 Tuesday.

"We got pretty lucky because the last two days, we didn't play well at all," he said. "Moving to (Class) 4-A, we play Bishop Gorman (at home Tuesday), Sierra Vista (home Thursday) and at Western (Friday), so it's going to be a little bit tougher. It's nice to win some games, though."

Justyn Anderson had 20 points and two steals to pace Mountain View, which was only 3-for-10 at the foul line. Karl Benjamin had four points, eight rebounds and three steals for the Saints.

The Trojans are 0-1 in the Sunset Region Southwest Class 4-A Division; they lost 62-48 at Clark on Dec. 15 and had a game at Durango postponed by bad weather Dec. 17. A makeup date has yet to be announced.

The Trojans' other division games (for both boys and girls teams) are:

* Jan. 16, at Desert Oasis;

* Jan. 22, home, vs. Bonanza;

* Jan. 23, at Spring Valley;

* Jan. 26, home, vs. Clark;

* Jan. 28, home, vs. Durango;

* Jan. 30, at Sierra Vista;

* Feb. 2, at Gorman;

* Feb. 4, home, vs. Western;

* Feb. 5, home, vs. Desert Oasis;

* Feb. 11, at Bonanza;

* Feb. 13, home, vs. Spring Valley. This is the only Friday home game of the season for the Trojans.

In non-league games, Pahrump Valley's boys are at home against Mesquite Virgin Valley Jan. 24 and travel to Boulder City Feb. 9.

Beatty edges

Spring Mountain

Beatty outscored Spring Mountain 28-12 in the final period to edge the Eagles 54-53 in a consolation game Tuesday in the Vegas Invitational Basketball tournament at Mountain View Christian School.

The Hornets won one of four games in the tournament. They trailed Spring Mountain 12-6, 27-14 and 41-26 at the breaks.

Anthony Regalado scored 17 points against Spring Mountain, like Beatty a member of the Southern Nevada Class A League.

Coach Brian Hayes' team lost 81-40 to Vo-Tech, 70-41 to Calvary Chapel and 65-53 to Trinity in earlier tournament starts.

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Sports editor Don McDermott contributed to this story.