High School Basketball

Desert Pines rides star Jacobs in erasing 12-point fourth quarter deficit to down Clark for state title: Feb. 23, 2013; By Ray Brewer; With the state high school basketball championship game tied and just seconds remaining, everyone at the Orleans Arena knew who would get the ball for Desert Pines High in the Division I-A finals against Clark. Julian Jacobs, a senior guard who is signed with USC, led a frantic comeback by Desert Pines in the fourth quarter, helping the Jaguars erase a 12-point deficit to set the table for the dramatic finish.

Margin of victory in Gorman's fourth state title in five years is surprising: Feb. 22, 2013; By Ray Brewer; Nobody expected an outcome this lopsided. Bishop Gorman High senior guard Trey Kennedy knew his team was comfortably ahead Friday against Centennial in the Division-I high school state basketball game at the Orleans Arena, but wasn’t closely following the score. Then, he looked up.

Centennial rallies to force overtime, knock off Canyon Springs for date with Gorman in state finals: Feb. 21, 2013; By Ray Brewer; Marcus Allen often shoots 25 free throws in the Centennial High gym each morning before heading to class. Then, when the Bulldogs’ senior guard returns home, he’s back on the court working on his game. The experience paid off Thursday.

Rashad Muhammad’s 29 points, big fourth-quarter lift Gorman to state basketball finals: Feb. 21, 2013; By Ray Brewer; Nobody said winning a state championship would be easy. Bishop Gorman realized that early Thursday in its Division-I state semifinal game against Reno’s Hug High at the Orleans Arena.

Nevada's best high school basketball team might still be debated after state tournament: Feb. 21, 2013; By Ray Brewer; At the end of the Desert Pines High basketball team’s Tuesday practice, Jaguars coach Mike Uzan brought his players together underneath the basket on the far side of the gym and delivered a simple message: Let’s make history. Uzan urged them to seize the moment, reminding the teenagers their goal of being state champions was two victories away.

With 2011 semifinal loss as a reminder, power Gorman knows winning another championship won't be easy: Feb. 20, 2013; By Ray Brewer; At this junction of the high school basketball season in Nevada, there typically isn’t much debate as to which team will win the state championship.

The Allen twins get the credit, but Centennial's berth in state tournament not a two-person show: Feb. 18, 2013; By Ray Brewer; With the Centennial High basketball team trailing Valley Monday by 10 points midway through the second quarter of the state play-in game, several in the gym assumed a player with the last name Allen would be the one to step up. And, twins Marcus and Malcolm Allen eventually took over the game. But, at this junction of the game, the Bulldogs had help from an unlikely source.

Bishop Gorman squeaks past Centennial again, wins Sunset regional title: Feb. 15, 2013; By Case Keefer; Now that they’ve spent 104 minutes playing against each other at three different venues, the body of evidence is both expansive and conclusive. Bishop Gorman is a better basketball team than Centennial.

Canyon Springs, standout guard develop ahead of schedule to win Sunrise title: Feb. 15, 2013; By Ray Brewer; Jordan Davis always believed he would be leading his basketball team onto the floor at the high school state tournament. But not even Davis, a sophomore guard at Canyon Springs High, could imagine it happening at this stage of his career. Davis, after all, wasn’t promoted to the varsity team until two weeks ago.

Strong rebounding lifts Centennial girls over Gorman, 67-35: Feb. 15, 2013; By Paul Delos Santos; Centennial’s Jada Brown knew why her team had lost to Bishop Gorman twice this season by a combined four points.

Bishop Gorman glides into third matchup with Centennial for Sunset region title: Feb. 15, 2013; By Case Keefer; Attention to “Ocean's Thirteen” and Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez: You now have company in the annals of most enthralling trilogies in Las Vegas over the last decade. The Bishop Gorman and Centennial basketball teams will meet again Friday night. The third matchup between the two best Division 1 high school basketball teams became official when Gorman breezed past Palo Verde 71-55 in the Sunset regional semifinals at Durango High Thursday night.

Valley's Johnson breaks out of slump at right time, leads Vikings to Sunrise title game: Feb. 14, 2013; By Ray Brewer; Ryan Johnson couldn’t make a shot. When Johnson, Valley High School’s senior point guard, was warming up Thursday at halftime during the Vikings’ Sunrise Regional semifinal game against Foothill, he would frequently shake his head in disgust because everything he attempted badly missed. That all changed on Valley’s first possession of the second half, helping Valley prevail 62-55 to advance to Friday’s championship game against Canyon Springs.

Centennial roars into Sunset regional finals behind Khalil Thompson's stroke: Feb. 14, 2013; By Case Keefer; Khalil Thompson made Durango High’s BlazerDome look like his personal practice space, sinking eight of 12 three-point attempts to lead Centennial to an 80-70 victory over Arbor View.

Davis brothers help Canyon Springs outlast Las Vegas, reach Sunrise championship game: Feb. 14, 2013; By Ray Brewer; The Canyon Springs High basketball team was trailing Las Vegas by nine points at the end of the first quarter Thursday in the Sunrise Regional semifinals when the Pioneers got the spark they needed. The scoreboard at Green Valley malfunctioned to cause about a 15-minute game delay, giving Canyon Springs a chance to regroup and game plan against Las Vegas’ up-tempo attack it had struggled to contain. Canyon Springs went on a 12-0 scoring run after the game restarted, eventually prevailing 67-64 in a back-and-forth affair to earn a spot in Friday’s Sunrise championship game.

Findlay Prep's Nigel Williams-Goss named to McDonald's All-American team: Feb. 14, 2013; By Ray Brewer; The accolades are continuing to come in for Findlay Prep senior Nigel Williams-Goss. This honor, however, might be the most significant for the Washington-committed point guard. Williams-Goss was one of 24 high school basketball players nationwide selected Thursday for the McDonald’s All-American game.