Columnist Adam Candee: Reno’s Padgett bitten again by injury bug

Adam Candee

Thursday, Feb. 13, 2003 | 9:22 a.m.

Adam Candee covers high school sports for the Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4085 or by e-mail at candee@lasvegassun.com.

Whom, I wonder, in the basketball heavens did David Padgett tick off?

For the second time in as many years, the Kansas-bound, 6-foot-11 center from Reno High will miss the region and state playoffs after suffering a knee injury against Carson. Down with Padgett likely went any chance of the North winning a 4A state hoops title this season.

Padgett severely strained the patellar tendon in his right knee Saturday in the third quarter of the Huskies' 59-57 overtime loss in Carson City. The injury will likely not require surgery and Padgett is expected to make a full recovery in time to begin his college career in Lawrence, Kan., next season.

"I'm very disappointed for him because it's a tough way to go out. But he's looking forward to the future," Reno coach Pete Padgett, David's father, told NevadaPrep.com this week.

The Huskies immediately dropped two spots to No. 6 in the Sun Boys Basketball Top 10 this week, in large part because of the loss of Padgett. The Huskies were considered the odds-on favorite in the North, and also were the region's best threat to the usually dominant South teams in 2002-03.

"I think we had a legitimate shot," David Padgett told the Associated Press.

Reno still leads the Sierra Division at 8-2.

Shadow Ridge will open in the far northwest part of town, serving mainly to alleviate the pressure that Centennial is feeling with 4,200 students. Liberty will open in the southeast part of the Valley, pulling students primarily from Coronado.

The schools will open without a senior class, and will play a full varsity schedule in every sport except football. Clark County School District athletics director Larry McKay said that schools will be allowed to compete at a lower level in some sports if they have trouble fielding a varsity team.

"We'll be flexible in this regard," McKay said. "We'll try to make these decisions based on the level of competitiveness, too."

In addition to serving their primary purpose of relieving the overcrowding at a handful of high schools, Shadow Ridge and Liberty will also likely balance out the Northwest and Southeast Divisions in a number of sports. The new schools would put six teams in all four regions, eliminating some of the byes and midseason non-conference games of years past.

McKay said both schools are beginning to hire teachers and coaches.

On the boys side, the nominees are: Lorrenzo Wade and Chris Fuller of Cheyenne; Mitch Platt and Ron Dunlap of Green Valley; Mark Hill and Robert Porter of Bishop Gorman; Tony Williams and Shyon Clark of Desert Pines; Wes Hager of Coronado; Mike Philogene of Clark; and the most interesting nominee, Jason Petrimoulx of Cimarron-Memorial.

Obviously, some of the nominations were made in the preseason, because Petrimoulx has not played since December. Multiple sources have indicated that Petrimoulx was dismissed from the team for off-court issues.

On the girls' side, the local selections are: Jenn Todd of Green Valley; Breona Gray of Bishop Gorman; Rachael Schein of Centennial; Oshaylee Thomas of Chaparral and Melissa Cejas of Las Vegas.

Coaches generally nominate their players for the squad, considered to be the most prestigious national recognition of a high school basketball player. Both the boys and girls teams will eventually be pared to 20 players. The games will be held March 26 in Cleveland, Ohio.