Trojans hoopsters return strong core of starters

The Pahrump Valley boys basketball have a whole new team this year and are hoping to take the league by surprise.

Senior forward Dylan Montgomery said he wants his teammates to think differently and come out with a new attitude.

“We don’t just want to be that Pahrump team,” he said. “The team that other teams say, ‘Oh crap, they showed up.’ I am trying to get everyone to feel that way. We all need to get pumped. …We can actually compete with other schools.”

Trojans coach John Toomer (6-57), who is entering his fourth year as coach, feels his team has what it takes.

“People will be mildly surprised by this group,” the coach said.

“The juniors are stepping up and the seniors are finally ready to play at the varsity level.”

The Trojans hope that talent makes up for being slightly undersized.

Toomer said a transfer student from Arbor View, Antonio Fortin, adds to the already talented guard position. Fortin should complement Bryce Odegard, the coach said.

“Point guard will be either Bryce or Antonio,” the coach said. “He and Tony (Fortin) are the best guards.”

Odegard scored 143 points last year and averaged 7.2 points per game.

In addition to talent, the strength of the team comes from experience, Odegard said.

“We have a lot of returners and we have Parker (Hart) back, who played his sophomore year,” Odegard said.

“That will be good for us. I think we are better than last year. We have more of a variety of talent and I think everyone is going into this season with a positive attitude. With new talent and a fresh start, it gives us a chance to improve over last year. I think we have the capability to do that.”

Toomer also said they have many talented forwards, just not a true post player. The tallest post is Nick Harris at 6 foot four inches. He moved up from junior varsity and is a senior.

Toomer agreed with Odegard and also likes the fact that the team will have four returners from last year, including David Sidhu, who was one of the leading scorers and averaged 5.2 points per game with 115 points for the season. Sidhu just wants to do his part and add to the core of talent this year.

“I am not looking to score the most,” he said. “I am looking to play more team basketball because we have a lot of good players this year. I think we should be pretty successful this season.”

Sidhu said he worked hard in the office season to improve.

“I worked on finishing, free throws and I worked on my mid-range jumpers and ball handling,” Sidhu said. “I was weak in that last year.”

The strong talent pool may translate into wins this year for the Trojans. Toomer is hoping the fact that other teams are starting out fresh, this might also give his team a chance.

“Desert Pines has a strong core of returning players and should take Clark’s place,” Toomer said. “The rest of the group does not have a lot of returning players and are in the same boat as us.”

Toomer expects the talent will get some wins this season but in order to do that in the Sunset League, he knows his team will have to play better than last year.

“We have to execute better and just play better defense,” Toomer said.

The coach and the team are looking forward to their first game on Monday against Del Sol at 6:30 p.m.

Trojans boys varsity basketball schedule

Nov. 28, at Del Sol, 6:30 p.m.

Dec. 1 - Dec. 3, at Mineral County Serpent Classic

Dec. 6, at Durango, 6 p.m.

Dec. 9, Tech, at 6:30 p.m.

Dec. 12, at Bonanza, 6:30 p.m.

Dec. 14, at Boulder City, 6:30 p.m.

Jan. 1, Sunrise Mountain, at 6:30 p.m.

Jan. 5, at Mojave, 6:30 p.m.

Jan. 9, Desert Pines, at 6:30 p.m.