Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

From the Press Box:

Top teams nearly even heading into tournament

Ray Brewer

Ray Brewer

Expanded coverage

Does anyone have a coin?

Flipping it might be the best way to predict winners in next week's Sunrise Regional basketball tournament. The eight-school event, which sends its winner to the large-school state tournament, is packed with several teams capable of being the last squad standing.

Parity has become a mark of the nine-year-old tournament, which has been won twice by Henderson's Foothill — last year and in 2004.

"There is no telling who is going to win this thing," said Foothill coach Kevin Soares, whose team will be the No. 2 seed from the Henderson-based Southeast Division. "The parity is great. It gives every team hope as opposed to one team that is nearly impossible to beat."

The tournament features the top four finishers from the Southeast and Northeast leagues. In most years, Henderson-area teams have struggled matching the athleticism of the Northeast, primarily teams from central and east Las Vegas.

"The north plays above the rim and runs the ball up and down the floor," said Silverado coach Ron Childress, whose team clinched a share of the Southeast regular-season crown Feb. 6 with a 78-68 victory over Foothill.

At 23-4 overall and 11-1 in the Southeast as of Feb. 9, Childress likes Silverado's chances. He is preaching to his players that they are the team to beat.

"I feel we are going to win it," Childress said. "I don't worry about the other teams. We know what we are going up against, and we feel we are better than everyone we'll face. You can't go in scared and apprehensive. "

Silverado is led by a trio of seniors — Wade Collie, Ali Sabre and James Lata — while Foothill has five players who contributed to the regional championship run last year.

Matching up against the Northeast, however, will take more than a few talented or experienced athletes.

Desert Pines was 12-0 in the Northeast as of Monday and features Pierre Jackson, a talented guard who average 22.1 points per game and scored 32 points earlier this season against Findlay Prep, the nation's top ranked team according to USA Today.

Eldorado, Las Vegas High and Canyon Springs, the Northeast's other teams that have clinched regional spots, have proven players at most positions whose athleticism will present matchup problems for the Henderson teams.

The Northeast has won six of eight regional titles since Las Vegas was broken up into two regions in 2001 and the domination could continue next week.

Just don't count on it. Most coaches agree the title is truly up for grabs.

"Any team can get on a roll and win three games," Soares said.

Sports Editor Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or [email protected].

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