When Jeff Malm began his freshman season with the Bishop Gorman baseball team, he told coach Chris Sheff he wanted to win four state championships. The senior pitcher could get his wish this spring. Gorman, winners of the last three state titles, opened practice Saturday with one goal — winning another crown.
Jay Zornow has almost gotten used to what it feels like to bowl a perfect game. When the last frame approaches, most of his fellow competitors tend to stop what they are doing and watch. Then, when the last strike happens, it is pandemonium.
Bishop Gorman has sat out the last two state tournaments in boys basketball, and for the Gaels, that's two too many. One of Southern Nevada's most storied programs, Gorman stamped its ticket to the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association's version of the Final Four by winning the Sunset Region championship, 60-55, on Friday against Palo Verde. After winning state titles in 2002 and 2005 and reaching the semifinals in 2006, the Gaels are eager for a return trip to the state tournament.
Dunking in high school basketball is typically a rarity. But Bishop Gorman senior Kylel Coleman has turned it into an art form. The shooting guard has earned such a reputation for his jams that fans at the school's House of Glory gymnasium have come to expect them each game.
Centennial took a major step Friday to regaining the upper hand in a nearly decade-long girls' basketball rivalry with Bishop Gorman. The Bulldogs topped the Gaels 74-60 in the Sunset Region championship at Palo Verde, securing a spot in the four-team state championship tournament at the Orleans Arena next week. Gorman now must defeat the loser of the Sunrise Region championship during a play-in game Monday for the right to join Centennial at state.
Billy Wolfbrandt can't stop smiling as he goes through wrestling practice with the rest of his Faith Lutheran Jr/Sr High School teammates. It doesn't matter if he is conditioning, stretching or learning new moves, if he makes a mistake, his teammates tell him. If Wolfbrandt, an eighth grader with special needs, requires more time to learn moves, the coaches work with him. When he scores points, cheers and high fives are aplenty.
Centennial girls soccer player Julie Owens has been compared to a quarterback of a high-scoring football team by her coach. The senior midfielder surveys the field, finds holes in the defense and hits teammates with precision passes that fuel the Bulldogs offense.
Whether it was coaching, building athletic programs or hiring quality coaches, Carol Leavitt was highly involved in Southern Nevada high school sports during her 35 years with the Clark County School District. Leavitt was Centennial High's first principal, hiring the Bulldogs' initial coaching staff and helping build a strong athletic tradition at the school. She retired in June 2002. For her efforts, Leavitt will be inducted into the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Orleans Arena on Feb. 26.
Top seeds aren't supposed trail a visiting opponent at halftime in the opening round of the playoffs. But rather than panic when faced with that situation Tuesday, the Palo Verde boys' basketball team, the Northwest region's top seed, stayed calm and proceeded to blow out Western, the No. 4 seed from the Southwest, 64-47.
Liloa Nobriga said he liked what he saw during a weekend visit to the University of Hawaii, but the Palo Verde senior linebacker isn't yet ready to commit to the school — at least not yet.