Memorable year comes to close

Nick Christensen

Thursday, June 9, 2005 | 9:52 a.m.

The 2004-05 prep sports season comes to a formal close today, 10 months after the football teams started donning pads, soccer squads began taking headers and tennis players launched their first practice serves.

In that time, 61 team championships and countless individual awards have been handed out, many with their own remarkable stories attached and all with memories that will forever be etched into the hearts of those who were there.

Some stood out above the rest, such as the Centennial girls' basketball team recording a state season team scoring record - for any basketball team, boys or girls. Cimarron-Memorial continued its wrestling dominance, while Palo Verde finally broke through and won its first state football championship.

Rural schools fought to survive endless trips across the Nevada desert, urban schools fought to field teams in sports that the suburban areas thrive in and many suburban schools could do nothing but watch as their students were pulled to the next campus to open in Clark County's burgeoning roster, which reaches 28 4A schools next season.

But there were low points, too. Several of the area's most successful coaches moved on, including Basic running coach Larry Burgess, Centennial girls' basketball coach Karen Weitz and Foothill football coach Ray Fenton.

Those who play the games had to deal with growing pains, from Nate Schulte's decision to leave Palo Verde to go to prep school only to come back months later, to DeMarco Murray's tearful loss in the football playoffs again at the hands of Cheyenne, to the inexplicable snub of pitching standout Kelly Griego in the all-region balloting that resulted in a phenomenal playoff run by the Silverado ace.

And no scene was more touching than the Jan. 5 basketball game between Cheyenne and Palo Verde, as 12th-grader Mike Clarke dedicated the court at the Summerlin campus in honor of his dad, and choked up as he read the starting lineups before the game. Clarke's dad, Phil, coached the Panthers to the 2004 4A basketball title while battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a battle he lost in late December.

The Palo Verde team he inspired last season made an improbable run at the state championship, finally falling to a nationally-ranked Bishop Gorman team in the state championship game.

Even that state basketball championship was news. It was the first time in more than 15 years that the state title games were played in Southern Nevada, and a raucous crowd topping 6,000 turned out to the Orleans Arena for the 4A boys' championship. Another 6,000 came to Sam Boyd Stadium for the 4A football championship game, breathing a whole new life and energy into title games that had gotten stagnant in past years.

Inside, you'll find a list of every state championship winning team and individual from last year, as well as some of the sights and scenes from the 2004-05 seasons. There are plenty of prep sports going on this summer, and for the real good stuff, football camp starts in about two months.

Enjoy. We did.