Fear of unknown intimidating during tournament

Tim Graham

Thursday, Feb. 29, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

RENO -- Call it the Magical Mystery Tour.

With all of the excitement that goes along with playing in the state basketball tournament, one element can make the event particularly nerve-racking: not knowing anything about the opposition.

Most schools faced each other for the first time Wednesday in the NIAA/U.S. Bank state basketball tournament, and with it came difficulties for coaches and players from both the Southern and Northern Zones.

"It's tough," said Western girls' coach Sam Johnson, whose team lost to McQueen, a team it had never faced before. "The only thing you can do is talk to different coaches, read the newspaper, grab bits and pieces of information and try to put together a game plan."

Unfortunately, hearsay is not acceptable to many coaches.

"You like to get information first-hand, but at the state tournament you don't have that luxury," Las Vegas coach Tom Farnsworth said after his boys' team beat McQueen in thir first meeting this year.

Some coaches are able to dispatch scouts to faraway places in hopes of receiving an accurate report on a future opponent.

"That's all we can rely on is the notes," said Bishop Gorman boys' coach Jeff Wagonseller after beating highly-touted Sparks. "Our scouts have helped us out a lot, but it's pretty difficult in the fact that we have no film, and we almost get psyched out when a scout comes back and says 'So-and-so player is great. He might be the North's MVP.'"

That's why Durango coach Al LaRocque prefers to concentrate on what his team does rather than what the opposition does. He claims scouting can hurt a team as much as it can help it.

"When you come up here (to the state tournament), you don't know what kind of look your going to get (from your opponent)," he said. "We don't have any tapes, didn't send anybody to scout. That's the best situation, because you don't over-coach. You just let the kids play."

Durango was probably the most-scouted team in the state this year, considering it hosted the nationally acclaimed Holiday Prep Classic and was ranked the best team in the state by several organizations.

"They come down and watch," LaRocque said. "Everybody plays a good game against us. They know everything we do."

Hoop scoop

* SOUTHERN COMFORT: When asked if this year's Southern Zone talent is on par with years past, Durango head coach Al LaRocque shakes his head. "The South usually has several outstanding players, but I haven't really seen that this year," said LaRocque after his Trailblazers shelled Carson 77-45. That begs another question: Is the North closing the gap in terms of the talent level? Again, a head shake. "They don't take boys basketball as seriously as we do in Las Vegas," he said. "Down there it's a year-round endeavor." Including this year's tournament, the North will have won only three state championships in 33 years.

* IT'S ALL-ACADEMIC: The Nevada Interscho lastic Athletic Association announced its All-Academic basketball team at the state tournament. Individuals awards are give to basketball players who earned a 4.0 grade-point average during the fall semester. Local winners were, in Class AAA boys: Brandon Barkhuff and Jason Van Meetren of Bishop Gorman; Miha C'mer and Justin Nickelson of Durango; and Dwaine Harrison of Eldorado. Class AAA girls: Brandy Depoorter and Erica Euffa of Basic; Amy Roban, Crystal Robinson and Rebecca Yeasted of Gorman; Shellee Orme of Chaparral; Celestial Grover of Clark; Michelle Higgs and Sharlet Jacobsen of Durango; Roslyn Weidauer of Green Valley; and Amber Fife and Kiley Lee of Silverado. Class AA girls: Hermon Ghermay, Melissa Moynihan and Shannon Trelease of Boulder City. Class A boys: Mark Bischoff, Zachary O'Connor, John Spann and Guy Sutton of Faith Lutheran. Class A girls: Jenni Creed, Lakisha Hawkins and Randi Watts of Faith Lutheran.