After layoff, Panthers set to open second half

Pahranagat Valley boys and girls basketball teams enter the second half of the season with the beginning of league play this Friday, then they have a non-league game at Wells on Saturday.

Word of Life, a non-denominational private Christian school in Las Vegas joins the league this year and will be the first league opponent for the Panthers boys and girls teams this year.

Panther boys coach Mike Strong says the Eagles (4-6) are ?a pretty good ball team, and have some pretty good athletes. They have a couple of big good guards and a big kid inside.?

PVHS has been able to get more practice time in since the Christmas holiday and are coming off a win at Eureka which ended their nine-game losing streak. ?The practices have been really good, so we?ll see how well they have paid off for us,? Strong said.

Pahranagat Valley, the four-time defending Division IV state champion, and three-time league champion has not lost a league game since 2010.

The following night, the Panthers play at Wells. On the boys side, Wells is a definite contender this year in the northern league. Pahranagat lost to Wells 35-33 in the Virginia City tournament in mid-December, and have not played at Wells in at least 10 years. Strong said, ?We owed them a game back. Their girls came down here a couple of years ago, and we were scheduled to go back last year, but Wells had freezing weather that broke the pipes and flooded the gym and they had to cancel.?

For the Alamo girls, they are coming off a four-point loss at Eureka Dec. 28, and this will be their first time playing Word of Life in a counting league game. The Panthers girls are 11-3 on the season. On Saturday, the girls again face Wells (6-6), whom they beat 50-22 in the Virginia City tournament.

Both the boys and girls teams will be in action on Jan. 16 traveling to White Pine.