Basketball playoff pairings firmed up

Spencer Patterson

Monday, Feb. 12, 2001 | 10:31 a.m.

SUNRISE REGION TOURNAMENT

At Valley High School

Tuesday's girls games

Green Valley (14-10) vs. Desert Pines (6-18), 3 p.m.

Eldorado (13-6) vs. Basic (9-19), 4:45 p.m.

Las Vegas (16-6) vs. Chaparral (5-17), 6:30 p.m.

Silverado (22-5) vs. Rancho (9-10), 8:15 p.m.

Wednesday's boys games

Foothill (18-10) vs. Valley (17-9), 3 p.m.

Las Vegas (18-11) vs. Chaparral (14-9), 4:45 p.m.

Desert Pines (16-5) vs. Silverado (9-18), 6:30 p.m.

Green Valley (20-9) vs. Rancho (2-18), 8:15 p.m.

It took a day longer than expected, but the prep basketball playoff pairings are finally set for this week's boys and girls regional basketball tournaments.

Rancho's boys and Durango's girls earned victories in unscheduled play-in games on Saturday, rounding out the field for the upcoming eight-team Sunrise and Sunset Tournaments.

Despite a 2-18 overall record, the Rams claimed a berth with a 60-53 win over Eldorado. The two teams split their regular-season meetings and neither posted a victory over another Northeast Division team, necessitating Saturday's contest.

Facing a similar divisional deadlock, the Trailblazers (11-20) slipped past Clark 51-50 on Jenn Bakotich's layup in the closing seconds to grab the final spot in the Sunset girls event.

The girls will tip off this week's regional action Tuesday, with four Sunrise contests at Valley and four Sunset games at Palo Verde. The winners will advance to Friday's semifinals, with championships scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m. in the Sunset and 5:30 p.m. in the Sunrise.

Both boys tournaments begin on Wednesday, also at Valley and Palo Verde, and will continue with semifinal action on Friday. The Sunset will play its title game at 7 p.m., with the Sunrise championship slated for 7:30 p.m.

The Sunrise will send three boys and three girls teams to this year's 4A State Tournament in Reno, while two boys and two girls teams will come from the Sunset Region.

Rodrigo Sison (135), Evan Ellsworth (152), Chris Gifford (160), Greg Gifford (171), David Hales (189) and Jacob Hales (215) all took home individual championships for the Wildcats, who will send 11 wrestlers to next weekend's 4A State Tournament in Elko.

Rancho wound up with five champions -- Duane Gonzales (103), Chase Diller (112), Jered Medina (119), Billy Rosado (125) and Josh Medina (145) -- and will also bring 11 wrestlers into the state tournament.

Chaparral finished third with 152.5 points, followed by Silverado (136) and Green Valley (103).

As expected, two-time defending state champion Cimarron-Memorial ran away with the Sunset Region championship at Centennial, totalling 254 points -- 81.5 ahead of its nearest competitor.

The Spartans qualified wrestlers for the state tournament in all 14 weight classes, including individual champions Rayes Gonzales (152), Rodrick Atwood (215) and Brandon Garcia (275).

Centennial wound up second with 172.5 points, with Palo Verde (161), Western (136) and Cheyenne (122) rounding out the top five.

Abbey Mathis scored twice and Natalie Griffin, Shawna Park and Heather Tsukamota each tallied a goal for the Skyhawks (15-6-4), who will face Bishop Gorman (15-4-3) in the first round of the Clark County Tournament Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Second-year Centennial (17-3-1) took the Sunset Region title on Saturday, outlasting the Gaels 2-1. Nicki Olson and Ashlei Kimenker scored the Bulldogs' two goals, with Olson's game-winner coming with time winding down.

The Bulldogs will play the Gators (19-3-1) in the Clark County Tournament Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.

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