Prep field is wide open

Spencer Patterson

Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2002 | 10:58 a.m.

At Reno's Lawlor Events Center

Wednesday's first-round boys matchups

Green Valley (27-5) vs. McQueen (22-9), 10:35 a.m.

Las Vegas (28-3) vs. Centennial (21-10). 1:45 p.m.

Cheyenne (28-4) vs. Desert Pines (20-5), 5 p.m.

Bishop Gorman (25-6) vs. Hug (24-6), 8:10 p.m.

Wednesday's first-round girls matchups

Las Vegas (14-12) vs. Carson (19-10), 9 a.m.

Green Valley (26-6) vs. Bishop Gorman (25-6), 12:10 p.m.

Centennial (31-0) vs. Valley (19-13), 3:20 p.m.

Douglas (24-5) vs. Western (16-13), 6:35 p.m.

On the air

Radio: KRLV 1340-AM

Bishop Gorman vs. Hug boys, Wednesday, 8 p.m.

Girls semifinal, Thursday, 8 p.m.

Boys championship, Friday, 6:30 p.m.

TV: KTUD Channel 25/Cable 14

Boys and girls championships, Friday, 6:30 p.m.

More than three months ago, Nevada's 2001-2002 high school boys basketball season opened without a clear-cut favorite to claim this year's state title.

Just one day before the start of this week's NIAA/U.S. Bank 4A State Tournament in Reno, things remain just as fuzzy.

Five of the eight squads in this year's field -- Bishop Gorman, Cheyenne, Desert Pines, Green Valley and Las Vegas High -- have jostled for area superiority all year, with little separating the quintet heading into the event, which tips off Wednesday morning at Nevada-Reno's Lawlor Events Center.

"It's wide open this year," Las Vegas coach Bob Beskow said. "The past couple of years, there's been a clear-cut favorite and everybody wants to avoid them. This year, it's just, 'Let's go out and play.' "

Agreed Cheyenne coach Larry Johnson, "It's whoever happens to be playing the best basketball that day. Green Valley, Vegas, Gorman, Desert Pines and us are all playing well right now."

If last week's regional tournaments are any indication, Beskow's Wildcats and Johnson's Desert Shields appear to be peaking at the right time. Las Vegas capped a run through the Sunrise bracket with a 49-46 win over Green Valley Saturday, while Cheyenne handed Gorman its first in-state loss of the year, 62-56, in Saturday's Sunset finale.

Despite holding down one of three No. 1 seeds, Cheyenne (28-4) has a tough first-round matchup with Desert Pines (20-5). The Shields have defeated the Jaguars twice this season, though one of those victories came on a buzzer-beater.

"We already know it's not going to be a cakewalk," Johnson said. "All the games are tough right now, so we're expecting a battle."

Las Vegas (28-3) will try to stay red hot in round one against Centennial (21-10), the sixth team from Southern Nevada in the draw. The schools have not played this season.

"It seems like they're a good shooting team and they're not giants, so they're a lot like us," Beskow said.

Representing Northern Nevada will be Hug and McQueen, which will try to become that area's first large-school champion since Carson in 1975. (South Tahoe, a California school that competes in Northern Nevada, won in 1987 and 1992).

McQueen (22-9) opens against Green Valley (27-5) in Wednesday's first game at 10:35 a.m. The Gators' only area losses were to Cheyenne and Las Vegas.

Hug (24-6), which beat McQueen 56-50 for the northern crown, will battle Bishop Gorman (25-6) in Wednesday's final contest. The Gaels won the state title in 2000 and lost to Western in overtime in last year's championship.

Only two squads in the eight-team field -- Douglas and Carson -- hail from Northern Nevada, and Centennial may have caught a break when defending state champion Reno, considered the north's top team again this year, lost in last week's regional semifinals.

"The girls are hungry enough. They're tired of hearing 'North, North, North' and you've got to love them for that," Centennial coach Karen Weitz said. "But there's no team going up to the state tournament that doesn't deserve to be there, so we've got to go up and execute our game."

Western, Bishop Gorman, Green Valley, Las Vegas and Valley will also make the trip to Reno, with all six looking to succeed Chaparral's 1980 squad as southern state champions.