Six games down and the Trojans boys basketball team has officially lost to all their competitors in the league.
This season the Trojans are playing a total of 11 conference matches in a league of seven teams where only the top four teams advance to the regional playoffs. After Monday evening, the Pahrump Valley team has played against all their league competitors at least once this season.
And the Trojans are now 0-6 in the league.
Last season the Trojans were able to stay ahead of Doral Academy and be competitive against Coral Academy and Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon, but this season the school is winless.
This is the first season that Trojans head coach Braydon Preston takes over as the lead of the team. Boys basketball is a developing team that has rising underclassman in the works.
Team juniors like Alejandro Lozano (0), Keir Sheppard (1), Joshua Slusher (5) and Aydon Veloz (11), and sophomores like Lucas Gavenda (10) and Jack Toth (5) are some of the hardest working players on the teams.
While senior Tramaine Burras (14) is top 10 in the division in rebounds and blocks per game, the Trojans have been relying on their juniors and sophomores to rack up the points for the team.
Up against the best
Boulder City drove through Las Vegas to play the Trojans on their home court in Pahrump. The Eagles have had a successful season so far after remaining undefeated in the league after playing every team in the league.
The Eagles (6-0) are at the top of their game after placing in the top five in the division. This isn’t new for Boulder City, but staying ahead of The Meadows school is.
The game against Pahrump Valley (0-6) was no stress for the Eagles, especially without Burras, a key Trojans player. But other underclassman players stepped up.
The Eagles attempted to separate themselves from the Trojans early in the first quarter until Lozano caught a rebound and wasted no time taking it to the Eagles’ side of the court. On the right side of the court, he drove himself into two-point territory where he jumped to get in front of an Eagle to toss the ball in.
Lozano scored two points to tie and picked up a free throw that got the Trojans the lead for less than a minute of the game.
The Eagles got the ball down the court and from the center of the three-point line, Boulder City’s Luke Wright (2) doubled the score to six points and after that the Trojans lost sight of the lead.
A two-point rebound shot from Pahrump Valley senior Antwahn Jackson (12) made it a one-point game until the Eagles’ King Raleigh (11) scored a three-pointer from the left side of the court.
With one minute left in the first quarter the Eagles added six more points to their three-point lead to close the game. By the end of the first quarter the Trojans were down 17-10.
It didn’t get better for the Trojans after that as after the next two quarters, the Eagles’ lead would grow bigger after each game clock buzzer.
The Trojans would fall behind as this time the team would be outscored by nine points. Their worst quarter was in the third quarter. Pahrump Valley took a big hit after being outscored by 11 more points, which grew the Eagles’ lead to a 27-point deficit.
After a Boulder City rotation, the Trojans were able to score in the fourth quarter. The Trojans were able to make back only four points until the final buzzer rang out in the court.
The Trojans lost their sixth league match 64-41.
Pahrump Valley’s sophomores shone as Gavenda scored the most points on the team by one point. Toth, another sophomore, would score nine points, but with one of the highest two-point percentages at 75 percent.
Veloz was able to catch eight rebounds for the team, and Jackson and Slusher would each pick up seven rebounds.
Up next
The boys are not finished this week as they are playing rematch league games. And the Trojans’ first rematch will be against The Meadows.
The game will be held on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in Pahrump, after the Pahrump Valley Times production deadline.
Earlier this season, the Mustangs were the first school the Trojans played in the league. Pahrump Valley took a big loss, where the Mustangs were able to double the Trojans’ score. And if Burras is still out, the Trojans might have even more trouble.
Next week the Trojans will have one more league game before the team starts to count down their last few league matches.
On Jan. 21 the Trojans will play their rematch game against Coral Academy in Pahrump at 6:30 p.m. Last time Pahrump Valley played the Falcons the Pahrump team lost 50-40 after coming close to closing the gap.
Contact Jimmy Romo at jromo@pvtimes.com. Follow @JimmyRomo.News on Instagram.