‘Nothing like a perfect season’

Spencer Patterson

Monday, Feb. 25, 2002 | 8:50 a.m.

As the Douglas Tigers made their way through the halls of Nevada-Reno's Lawlor Events Center in the moments before Friday night's 4A state championship game, they found their path into the arena blocked by a circle of nine powder blue-clad girls jumping up and down and chanting in unison.

Rather than yield their position or quiet down, the Centennial Bulldogs stood their ground, singing even louder and banging on a nearby metal door frame.

"South Side, South Side." The refrain echoed down the tunnel long after the Tigers had picked their way through the throng and into the gym for the title tilt.

Young though they may have been -- with three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior among their top seven players -- the Bulldogs knew all about a much-documented futility streak that had become quite an embarrassment for all of Southern Nevada girls basketball.

And Centennial, 33-0 heading into its final game, wasn't about to back down from its northern opponent on this night.

Despite losing their top two scorers to fouls in regulation and watching Douglas extend the game with a stunning 3-pointer at the overtime buzzer, the Bulldogs ultimately prevailed, 76-74 in double-OT.

"They're not intimidated by much," Centennial coach Karen Weitz said. "We knew that we had one of the best shots to win it going up there in a while, and they made it count."

The Bulldogs put an end to a 21-year streak that saw schools from Northern Nevada hold onto the large-school trophy. They also completed the state's first undefeated large-class season since Carson's 61-game winning streak ended in the late 1980s.

"There's nothing like a perfect season," said Darci Sandoval, one of two seniors on the squad. "It feels good because people probably thought we'd come up here and lose. But we wanted it so bad, for ourselves and for our coach."

In case Centennial needed any reminders about the state's longtime rivalry between north and south, they received several during the three-day tournament.

After blasting Valley 87-42 in the opening round Wednesday, the Bulldogs woke up the next day to read a quote from one of the players for their semifinal foe, Carson, questioning their perfect record.

"They are undefeated, but that is from the south and we're from the north," the Senators' Erin Stieber told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

That went up on Weitz's bulletin board and provided additional motivation for a 62-48 win over Carson Thursday night. Afterwards, Senators coach Paul Croghan reiterated Stieber's contention that Centennial would not have gone unbeaten in the north.

Then Friday night, throughout their classic final game with Douglas, Tigers fans behind Centennial's bench rained often-crude insults (and an occasional coin) on Bulldogs players and coaches, giving them even further incentive to quiet their northern detractors.

"You almost did feel like it was us against the world," Weitz said. "You try to block that stuff out, but during a timeout or a quiet moment, you could hear some of the things they were saying."

With starters Ashley Blake and Rachael Schein fouled out, Centennial went with an overtime lineup of Sandoval, Karissa Fernandez, Whitney Price, Jenene James and Sierra Chambers. Each of the five contributed key plays down the stretch, as the Bulldogs achieved the last of their goals.

"It went all the way to the end, and when that buzzer sounded it was an intense celebration," Weitz said. "Going undefeated and ending that 21-year drought made it a even a little bit bigger for all of them."