Legion tourney begins tonight

Spencer Patterson

Friday, July 30, 1999 | 10:23 a.m.

With one berth to regionals gone and one up for grabs, the 1999 Nevada State American Legion Tournament begins tonight at UNLV's Wilson Stadium.

Seven teams from Southern Nevada and one from Reno will do battle in the seven-day event, with the winner headed to this year's Region 8 Tournament, slated to be played at Wilson Stadium next month.

Silverado enters the tournament as the top seed, courtesy of a 34-1 conference record, and has already clinched the area's automatic "host" position at regionals with its regular season title.

The tournament winner will claim this year's regional berth as Nevada "state champion," second-place Durango going in as the host squad if Silverado wins the event.

Silverado shook off Durango for the regular season crown on Tuesday night, sweeping a doubleheader with the Trailblazers. The Skyhawks also got some help from Western, which took a pair of games against Durango this week.

Tonight's action begins at 5 p.m., with a familiar local rivalry: Green Valley vs. Bishop Gorman. The Gaels (29-7) are the third seed, while the Gators (24-11) come in as the sixth seed.

Game two will pit Durango (31-5) against No. 7 Cimarron-Memorial (24-11), and is scheduled for 8 p.m.

First-round action continues Saturday, with No. 5 Reno (41-16) taking on No. 4 Basic (25-10-1) at 5 p.m. That will be followed by Silverado's game with No. 8 Western (22-14) at 8 p.m.

Seven of the tournament's eight participating teams were also in the field last year. Basic, which posted wins over Gorman and Valley on Thursday to wrap up the fourth position, is the only newcomer.

This year's tournament will feature a new format, with an "NCAA-style" schedule replacing the "Olympic-style" format used here last summer. The event will be double-elimination until the championship game (in the past, teams played in pools for three days).