Zone soccer Saturday at Durango

Bob Cloud

Thursday, Oct. 31, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

With the regular season behind them, eight area prep soccer teams set their sights on the Southern AAAA zone tournament, which begins Saturday at Durango High School.

Four matches will be contested in the first round. In the opener at 9 a.m., Rancho (11-2-5) will meet Cimarron-Memorial (11-3-2), followed by Bonanza (12-2-2) vs. Eldorado (10-3-6) at 11:15 a.m. The host Trailblazers (9-5-2) will play Green Valley (14-2-2) at 1:30 p.m., with Bishop Gorman (13-2-1) battling Valley (8-5-6) in the 3:15 p.m. nightcap.

Gorman and Green Valley captured the top seeds from Sunset and Sunrise divisions, respectively. Defending state titleist Bonanza finished tied with the Gaels in the Sunset, with Gorman gaining the top seed via goal differential after the teams split two matches.

Bonanza coach Debbie Antonio-Hunt, whose Bengals won a tight 1-0 match against Gorman in Tuesday's season finale, said her team is poised to make a run at another title after getting off to a relatively slow start.

"We're feeling really good right now," she said. "Our confidence level is up at this time. The guys are really peaking at the right time. That's exactly what we wanted to see happen. We're right where we wanted to be.

"At the beginning of the season we had a brand new team. Coming together took a little time for us. We had to get to know each other. But the playing styles have come together very well."

Antonio-Hunt expects the zone competition to be very well balanced, saying any of schools has a quality shot to win it all.

"I don't know much about the other division, but I know all four teams four of our teams are capable of beating anyone," she said. "It really could go either way on any given day. I don't think there's any one team that's better than the others."

Following Saturday's play, the remaining rounds of the zone tournament will be played at UNLV on Wednesday and Nov. 9. The two zone finalists will advance to the 4A state tournament Nov. 14-15 at UNLV.

Runners ready for zone

Green Valley and Cheyenne figure to race neck-and-neck in the Southern AAAA girls' cross country zone meet Saturday at Moapa Valley.

The Gators, who captured the recent Sunrise Division meet, are led by freshman Abby Miller, who was the league's individual champion. Miller teams with Katie Barto to give the Gators a solid combination.

"Coming into the season we didn't have such lofty goals, but once we started running we started to gain confidence," said Jeff Doyle, who assists coach Becky Lamph with the Gator squad. "However, we still have to beat Cheyenne. They're still the team to beat."

Jessica Zarndt of Cheyenne won the Sunset Division race, nudging out teammate Sharunn Downing. Doyle said the Desert Shields are a formidable team, so Miller and her mates need to be at the top of their games.

"The main thing with her is she's tenacious," Doyle said of Miller. "She has only one way to run and that's all-out. She has a tremendous pain threshold, and she has the capacity to take the lead at the start and maintain it. That's what makes her amazing. She has helped elevate the entire girls team."

In the small school conference championships, Boulder City edged Indian Springs for the boys' championship. Moapa Valley claimed the girls' title by six points over The Meadows.

Prep Pickings

* VOLLEYBALL BERTHS SET: Durango captured the Sunset Division crown and Green Valley claimed the Sunrise title as girls' volleyball league play concluded Tuesday. Both teams posted perfect records in their respective divisions, the Trailblazers going 14-0 -- 21-4 overall, while the Gators finished up 14-0 and 21-5. Each team receives a top seed in next week's zone tournament at Chaparral. Cheyenne, Bishop Gorman and Cimarron-Memorial also earned playoff berths in the Sunset, with Eldorado, Chaparral and Basic joining Green Valley from the Sunrise. Basic earned its spot with a five-set victory over Las Vegas Tuesday, a match which saw the final game go to the Wolves by a 16-14 score.

* OLD-TIMERS HOOP: The first meeting and practice for players participating in the Old-Timers Basketball game will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 7 at the Valley High gym. The game, to be played Nov. 22 at Valley, will feature members of the Clark and Valley teams from 1960-1989. Anyone who played basketball or was a cheerleader at either school during that time period is eligible to play, and should contact Gary Wheeler at 799-5130.

* PLAYOFF BROADCASTS: KLAV 1230-AM will broadcast two games Friday as the prep football playoffs get under way. The station will carry the Durango-Valley contest live beginning at 7 p.m., with a television replay to be shown on Prime Cable Metro 1 next Thursday at 7 p.m. The Bonanza at Las Vegas battle will be aired on tape delay immediately following the Durango-Valley conclusion, and will be replayed on Prime Cable Metro 1 Wednesday at 7 p.m.

* CROSS COUNTRY POLL: Cheyenne remains atop the boys' cross country rankings, while Green Valley heads the girls' list, in the weekly Southern Nevada Track and Cross Country Coaches Association poll. For the boys, Basic, Durango, Green Valley and Silverado round out the top five, with Cheyenne, Cimarron-Memorial, Basic and Eldorado doing the same for the girls.

* BIG EFFORT: Boulder City quarterback Doug Stuart had a big night a week ago in a losing effort against Virgin Valley. Stuart rushed for 41 yards and passed for another 92, while on defense he made 18 tackles and recovered a fumble. Stuart also punted eight times for a 35-yard average as the Eagles fell 26-6 to the conference-leading Bulldogs.