HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Kaitlin Ulrich will be in the Beatty lineup Friday, when the Lady Hornets play Lake Mead Christian Academy in a Southern Nevada Class A League basketball game. Advertisement

BEATTY -- Lake Mead Christian Academy and Beatty are ranked 1-2 in both the boys and girls divisions of Southern Nevada Class A basketball, after a month of non-league games and a two-week holiday break.

Friday night, the Hornets will host the Eagles in the first doubleheader of the league season. The girls clash at 6 p.m., with the boys to follow. Saturday, the Hornets go on the road to play Sandy Valley in another league twin bill.

Lake Mead's boys, 10-2, are the defending league, regional and state champions; they are led by seniors Landon Littlefield and De'Quan Thompson. In a non-league game played against Beatty in December, they led the Eagles to a 62-18 conquest of the Hornets.

"(Littlefield and Thompson) are the two best players I've ever coached at Lake Mead," said veteran coach Jeff Newton. "Thompson is athlete and intuitive ... Landon is savvy, with probably the best footwork I've ever seen."

Lake Mead's losses were Class 2-A Lincoln County (91-84) and 3-A Mesquite Virgin Valley (66-63). Among the teams the Eagles have beaten are defending state 3-A champion Boulder City (67-52), 4-A Pahrump Valley (67-37) and Las Vegas Desert Oasis (82-72) and private school power Windemere (Fla.) Prep (94-64).

Beatty, coached by Brian Hayes, is 12-4; the Hornets have been idle since beating Henderson International School 52-40 in a tournament hosted by that Southern 1-A league team on Dec. 21.

The Hornets have lost twice to Lincoln County (68-49 and 76-64) and once to 2-A Calvary Chapel (56-49), as well as to the Eagles. That loss gives Beatty a 9-1 record in its last 10 starts.

Anthony Regalado, Miguel Mendoza and Tony Dare give the Hornets some solid senior leadership, with Anthony Turner, Ivan Maldonado and Isais Flores other go-to players.

Southern matchups Friday include Pahranagat Valley Alamo at Round Mountain and Tonopah at Lund, as well as Sandy Valley at Las Vegas Trinity. In other Saturday league games, Indian Springs is at Lund and Trinity at Tonopah.

Each boys team will play 10 league games, while the girls' schedule includes nine 1-A starts.

Lake Mead's girls have won 12 in a row since a 40-28 loss to Overton Moapa Valley Dec. 3. Those victories include 39-30 and 42-28 conquests of Beatty, both in holiday tournament finals (at Pahrump Valley and Henderson).

Emily Dean, a 5-7 sophomore guard, was the MVP in both tournaments for rookie coach Derek Anderson's team. Other players to watch include senior guard Jocelyn Cox, sophomore Jordan Clarke and senior Samantha Herman.

Beatty, coached by Aimee Senior, is 9-4 in all games, with the Hornets' other losses to 3-A Virgin Valley (38-14) and Moapa Valley (46-35). In seven of the wins, the Lady Hornets have given up 20 points or less.

Players to watch in the Beatty lineup include seniors Kaci Schroeder and Ariel Spicer, along with junior Kaitlin Ulrich.

NOTES -- Beatty and Lake Mead are the only boys' teams above .500 after the first month of the season .... Trinity is 5-6 and Pahranagat Valley Alamo, which has played an upbeat schedule and is 6-7, are the best of the rest ... In girls play, Henderson International School is 6-4 and Alamo is 6-7, with Trinity at 4-5. ... In a wrestling note, the Tonopah Muckers host the High Desert Classic Jan. 15-16, as part of their preparations to complete in 2-A post-season tournaments .... The regionals Feb. 12-13 at Pahranagat Valley Alamo, with the state tournament to be contested Feb. 19-20 in Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus ... Cox Pavilion will be the site for all three state wrestling tournaments.