Sun All-State Basketball Teams: Players of the year showed their true value

Spencer Patterson

Tuesday, March 6, 2001 | 10:44 a.m.

Cream of the Crop

Past winners of the Las Vegas Sun's state player of the year awards:

1998: Alex Hernandez, Valley 1999: Kevin Gaines, Clark 2000: Jamaal Brimmer, Durango 2001: Tim Day, Western

1998: Kate Smith, McQueen 1999: Courtney Moore, McQueen 2000: Ashlee Orndorff, Mineral Cty. 2001: Kellie Burton, Galena

It's been said that the days of the multi-sport high school star athlete are numbered, with today's prep coaches urging specialization for their top players.

But one look at the 2001 Sun all-state basketball team confirms that not only are two-sport athletes alive and well, they are quite capable of dominating all their endeavors.

The 2001 players of the year -- Western's Tim Day and Galena's Kellie Burton -- are headed to the Pac-10 on athletic scholarships, with Day set to play football at Oregon and Burton slated to play volleyball at Arizona.

Yet during the 2000-01 season, both seniors demonstrated their value in their "other" sport, helping their teams to appearances in the 4A state championship games.

Day's Warriors defeated top-ranked Bishop Gorman for the boys title, while Burton's Grizzlies came up short against Reno in their attempt to repeat as girls champions.

Without Day and Burton anchoring their otherwise guard-oriented squads, however, it would have been difficult to imagine either team in the state finals. In other words, the duo truly defined the term "Most Valuable Player" this season.

Joining Day on the all-state boys first team are two members of Bishop Gorman's runner-up squad: center Jason Carter and shooting guard C.J. Watson.

Valley's Sam Jackson was selected as the state's top small forward, while Reno High's Alex Gamboa earned the nod at point guard for the second straight year.

The Huskies also placed two players on the girls first team, with point guard Megan Nunn and power forward Brita Class representing Reno's 4A state championship squad.

Along with Burton, Nunn and Class, two Southern Nevadans made the girls first team: Bishop Gorman shooting guard Liz Cansdale and Silverado small forward Nikki Hitchens.

Las Vegas High's Bob Beskow is this year's boys Coach of the Year, while Hug's Jack Smith was selected as the girls Coach of the Year.