By Vern Hee

The Trojans boys basketball team traveled to Las Vegas last Thursday, where they were dismantled by the conference leaders, the Clark Chargers, 67-13.

They also played at Bonanza on Saturday and lost that game, 61-45.

Brian Hayes, head Trojans basketball coach, really did not have much to say after the loss to the number one team in the conference.

“The only comments I can give about the Clark game is this, we were out-manned, out-hustled, and out-played in all aspects of the game. Stats wise, we scored 13 points,” said the coach.

In order for the boys team to go to the playoffs, they would have to dislodge the fourth place team in the league, Faith Lutheran at 3-3. The Trojans are 1-5 in league and would have to win their remaining four games and get a lot of help from Faith. The squad plays Cheyenne, the number two team tonight, and a hapless last place Western team on Friday to end the week.

Next week they travel to Las Vegas to take on the number three squad, Mojave, and then end the season with the fourth place Faith Lutheran at home. The schedule is almost the same for Faith. Their last four games consist of Western, Mojave, Clark and Pahrump. Of those games, Faith has beaten three of those teams, so the odds are against Pahrump.

The last time Pahrump was in the playoffs was in 2008. Back then, they had a three year run in the playoffs starting with 2006 and ending with 2008. The year 2007 was the year they went to the state playoffs.

To rebuild after the devastating years in the 4-A conference, takes time. The 4-A division really made the kids in Pahrump not want to compete in sports. Andy Schneider, last year’s head football coach, said the kids had the attitude, why play if we are just going to lose.

Unfortunately for Hayes, people want instant results. The people of Pahrump have short memories. They are comparing apples to oranges. The 3-A conference of 2008 was a competitive league, but it is not like the 1-A. The 3-A of 2008 consisted of at least five teams compared to the 12 schools that make up the 1-A southern division.

Hayes deserves credit for what he has given the Trojans and not scorn. The team has already won three more games than they won in all of last year. Hayes has brought good fundamentals to a team that had none. He has given the Trojans a good start and foundation for future wins.

Lady Trojans

The Lady Trojans traveled to Clark, and fared just a pinch better than the boys, losing 41-18.

Jennifer Hagstrom, head Trojans coach, said the girls played hard but just were outplayed by the other side.

“Shayla Dance scored five and led us in the scoring column. Kayla Skilling had eight rebounds and Shayla had 11 points in the game. We got outrun early with Clark, but failed to put the ball in the basket enough to keep it competitive. Their length and athleticism gave us fits and we struggled to connect from the field. The girls played really hard, and took care of the ball, but Clark played well and executed their game plan,” said Hagstrom.

The Lady Trojans are in the same boat as the boys. Hagstrom’s squad has a record of 5-15 overall this year and are 0-6 in league play.

The bright spot is that they won four more games then last year.

Beatty Boys

The Beatty Hornets boys went hard and heavy against the Tonopah Muckers at home last Friday night to grab the victory, 54-45.

It was a big win for Beatty and it ensured them of a playoff appearance.

Leo Verzilli, head Beatty coach, was enthusiastic about his team’s win.

“We were down 24-21 at halftime. At halftime, I told the boys that they were not playing a better team. I said this team is beatable and we need to control the ball. I also told them they were doing everything right,” said Verzilli.

The second half belonged to the Hornets. Jake Zamora led the team with 18 points and Carlos Gomez had 12 points. The boys shot 50 percent from the floor and 54 percent from the line.

The Beatty coach was also very pleased with the number of turnovers. In the past, turnovers had killed the team.

“During the game we only had 12 turnovers the whole game. We took care of the ball. Our rebounding was great. Carlos Gomez and Levi Reed were just beasts under the boards,” said coach.

Jay McLauchlin, Tonopah head coach, was not pleased at all with the effort of his team.

He said his players just did not put out the effort to get the win.

“Our main problem was our defense and rebounding. Their guards were a bit quicker than ours and we turned the ball over a bit. We just did not have enough assists and we just did not play together. I told them at halftime, there is no way we should be ahead only by three points. You guys should just be running away with this game. It is the level of effort that you are giving out there that makes the difference. We are not doing the fundamental things. We are not boxing out, not rebounding, and we have no defense. We are just falling apart,” said coach.

Both teams have a good chance of going to the playoffs. In division IV ball, the top six teams go to the playoffs with the top two teams getting a buy.

Beatty improves to 2-3 on the year. They have one more league game left at Sandy Valley.

“This will be the first time we have played Sandy Valley. We expect a good game from Sandy Valley. They may not have a very big population there, but they always seem to have a decent basketball team,” said Verzilli.

Prior to playing Sandy Valley at the end of next week, the Hornets will play three non-league games, Word of Life on Jan 28, Lund on Feb. 2, and Indian Springs on Feb. 5.

The Beatty boys beat Beaver Dam in non-league Saturday action, 52-46.

Beatty Girls

The Lady Muckers beat the Lady Hornets in a fast-paced squeaker in Beatty last Friday night, 49-41.

Aimee Senior, head Beatty coach, said it was a close game that was decided by fundamentals.

“We weren’t boxing out and rebounding like we know how to. We were rushing passes which led to more turnovers than we should have had, and again, missing the short shots under the basket that we should be consistently making. Tonopah is always a very physical game, and we know that coming in, so we know we need to step up our game and be prepared for that – which we weren’t. We had a couple mishaps during the game which got to the ladies and it affected our game and the way we play our game. We are going to work hard and get ready to face them again in a couple of weeks,” said Senior.

Ed Cobb, head Muckers coach, felt his girls worked hard to beat Beatty.

“We had a strong solid week of practice, the girls were intense they knew this would be a hard game so they set their goal to beat Beatty. The girls came to practice and focused on the need for this win. We were able to minimize our turnovers to less than 5 for the entire game. The ladies focused on the need to have effective passes and strong rebounds. These girls were able to play strong for four solid quarters. It was a well fought game, and Beatty was not an easy team to defeat,” said coach.

The Lady Hornets also took on Beaver Dam and lost that game too, 55-53.

Beatty Stats, Tonopah game

Rebounding: Melynda 16, Lucero 6.

Scoring: Melynda 17, Lucero & Shankara 6, Nicole & Ginny 4, Christina & Maggie 2.

Beaver Dam-Beatty Stats: Shankara scored 12, Lucero 7, Melynda 16, Ginny 13, Maggie 2.