Pahrump Valley girl basketball team

The Pahrump Valley girls basketball team is in one of the top two spots of their league with Boulder City, but the coast is not clear for the Trojans for their shot at making the regional playoffs. There are still two schools that have yet to play a league game: Sports Leadership and Management and Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon.

Last year, the Trojans were undefeated in the league with a 10-0 record and in second place was Coral Academy.

At the start of the season the Trojans defeated Coral Academy 48-25.

Currently, Boulder City is placed five ranks above the Trojans in the MaxPreps division ranking. SLAM is ranked above Boulder City in the No. 9 spot.

The league won’t be defined until the top three teams play their games against each other later in the season.

The Holiday Classic

The Trojans played five tournament games during the break spanning from Jan. 2-4, where one of the games played was against a league rival.

At the beginning of the tournament, the Trojans played their first game of the day against Doral Academy Red Rock on Jan. 2. The Trojans were able to take a five-point lead by the end of the first quarter and maintain a six-point lead by the end of the first half.

The Trojans pulled away from the Dragons and by the end of the match the Trojans won 44-28. Saldana had a strong match, as she scored 16 points for her team, the most points scored by one player in the game. She also had one of the most steals and turnovers.

In the Trojans’ second game, it went even better for them after winning 49-18 against the Pinecrest Academy Cadence. Saldana would score 17 points this game and junior Aspen Larson (31) was supporting the team defensively with five rebounds, seven steals and 17 turnovers.

The next day the Trojans had two more games; their first one was against Del Sol, where the Pahrump team took a big loss.

In the first quarter the Dragons scored 27 points to the Trojans’ two points and by the end of the first half the Trojans were down 37 points. The division 4A school had no mercy for Pahrump as they continued to rack up points.

The final score was 70-24 and the Trojans’ first loss of the new year. Under pressure Saldana was still able to score 11 points in the game and get eight turnovers.

The second game of the day was against a northern Nevada school in the 4A division, a division above the Trojans. Pahrump Valley took another big loss of 56-16, but this time there were two top scores on the team: senior Ryleigh Denton (13) and junior Savannah Thompson (11) who each scored six points.

The big game was on Jan. 4, where the Trojans played the Boulder City Eagles.

At the start, the Trojans played a tight quarter only scoring five points for a two-point lead, but the Eagles let it loose in the second quarter after they scored 10 more points than the Trojans. By the end of the first half, the Trojans were behind eight points.

Both tied at 11 points scored in the third quarter and it was down to the fourth quarter to see if the Trojans could come back from the deficit.

And the Trojans nearly did; the Trojans scored 11 points to the Eagles five, nearly catching up to Boulder City. The final score was 34-32.

Trojans sophomore Riley Saldana (20) scored 15 points during the game, which was the most a single player got in the match. This was more than Eagles senior Sophia Muelrath (15), the top scorer on that team, with 12 points.

Trojans’ senior Ryleigh Denton (13), with eight points scored, was able to assist the most on the team, plus help with rebounds and steals.

The two teams will play again on Jan. 8 in a league match-up in Boulder City at 6:30 p.m.

Contact Jimmy Romo at jromo@pvtimes.com. Follow @JimmyRomo.News on Instagram.