Playing in an 11-team activities conference means the basketball teams in the Rolling Hills Activities Conference have just one non-conference game. That’s the case for Paton-Churdan and the 2014-15 season for the Rockets begins with the one and only non-conference date. The P-C girls and boys play in Burnside on Tuesday, Dec. 2 vs. the recently combined Southeast Valley teams. SEV is a combination of students from the Southeast Webster (Burnside) and Prairie Valley (Gowrie) school districts.

After Dec. 2, it’s all conference games for the Rockets and both teams are looking to have good seasons. Both had winning seasons in 2013-14 for the first time in more than a decade, and both return key performers from a season ago.

P-C girls’ coach Chris Petersen has a team ranked #14 in Class 1A to start the season. Rolling Hills Conference rival Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton is number 12 in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union preseason poll.

The boys’ preseason rankings are not yet released. Coach Chris Stimson’s Rockets have graduated few players over the last three seasons, so this is a very experienced squad, that hopes to make a run at the conference title.

With 20 conference games, both coaches realize every game is important and their teams will need to be prepared each and every night. The Rockets open the Rolling Valley Conference seasons on Friday, Dec. 5 in Churdan vs. the Charter Oak-Ute teams.