Halfway through the season the 3A boys basketball division is starting to shape up, but not in favor of the Trojans this season.
This has not been Pahrump Valley’s best season as it recently took its sixth conference loss with five games to go. The Trojans have played against all their competitors and will now be playing rematches.
A lot of the Trojan games were not close enough to have competitive rematches as the Trojans have averaged a loss of 18 points a game.
Only the top four teams in the 3A Southern – Mountain league will advance to the regional playoffs for a shot at the regional championships game and the state playoffs.
At the top of the league are the Boulder City Eagles. The Eagles have successfully defeated all the teams in their league and will have six more games to play everyone in the league once more.
Right behind Eagles is The Meadows School, who have only been defeated by the Eagles but remains dominant throughout the rest of the league as a strong second-place school in the league.
The top three and four spots are still being fought for among four schools: Coral Academy, Doral Academy, Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon and Sports Leadership and Management (SLAM).
So far SLAM and Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon are currently occupying the No. 3 and No. 4 spots. But Coral Academy is not out of the race yet as it has recently had to play the top two teams and suffered a couple of losses.
What might solidify the Falcons’ odds will be on Thursday evening when they play against SLAM, the No. 3 school in the league.
As the Pirates also have a game on Thursday night, the Eagles are expected to win, adding a loss for the Pirates and hurting their standing.
Next week, starting on Jan. 21, there will be three league games happening on the same evening.
The Trojans (0-6) will play the Falcons (2-4) at 6:30 p.m., where the Falcons are expected to win. The second game of the evening will be the Pirates (3-3) against the Dragons (1-5). Although it will be a tight game, Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon is expected to win.
The final game of the night, Boulder City (6-0) will play SLAM (4-2) in a rematch, where the Bulls are expected to take a loss.
After these games Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon and SLAM should be tied in their record and it will be up to their match-up on Jan. 31 in the battle for No. 3.
The Trojans are not expected to make the regional playoffs.
3A division leaders
Overall, in the division this season the MaxPreps rankings look similar to the last season as there is a familiar school at the top of the rankings.
Democracy Prep is once again sitting at the top of the division. Last season the Blue Knights won the state championship against Mater Academy East Las Vegas 53-50 and finished at the top of the rankings.
The Southern–Desert league dominated the division as their top schools were the last two schools to compete in the state championship game.
Currently, Democracy Prep and Mater Academy East Las Vegas lead the league, and Virgin Valley and Moapa Valley are playing to finish in the No. 3 and No. 4 positions.
These will likely be the four schools that the top four Southern-Mountain league teams will play in the regional playoffs that start on Feb. 10. Boulder City and The Meadows School might struggle to defeat the Blue Knights and the Knights.
Although Boulder City is ranked a top five school in the league, Democracy Prep and Mater Academy are the top two schools in the division.
In the Northern division, Fernley and Spring Creek have managed to take No. 3 and No. 4 in the division and might be the two northern Nevada schools that will be seen in the state playoffs.
Contact Jimmy Romo at jromo@pvtimes.com. Follow @JimmyRomo.News on Instagram.