3 prep basketball games to watch at this year’s Big City Showdown

The high school basketball playoffs are a month away, but some of the state’s top teams will get a postseason preview Saturday.

The Big City Showdown is Saturday at Coronado. The 12-game event begins with Losee and Arbor View at 9:30 a.m. and features most of the city’s top boys and girls teams.

Highlighting the schedule are a pair of state title rematches.

Here are three games to watch at the Big City Showdown:

Bishop Gorman vs. Centennial (girls), 12:30 p.m.

Bishop Gorman (7-4, 2-0 Class 5A Southern League) and Centennial (8-2, 4-0) split their two meetings last year. Centennial won in the regular season at last year’s Big City Showdown.

But Gorman won the meeting that mattered when the Gaels knocked off Centennial in a 57-53 thriller for the 5A state championship last February, snapping Centennial’s run of eight straight titles.

The matchup will feature the state’s top girls basketball recruits.

Gorman guard Aaliah Spaight ranks third in the state at 22.3 points per game. The junior recently picked up Division I offers from Texas Tech, Ole Miss and Louisville. She also has other notable offers from Oklahoma State, Georgia and UNLV.

Centennial sophomore forward Nation Williams is a four-star prospect by 247Sports and has more than 20 Division I offers. Williams holds notable offers from South Carolina, UCLA, Notre Dame and Tennessee.

It’s also a meeting of two of the state’s most successful high school coaches.

Centennial’s Karen Weitz (742 wins) and Gorman’s Sheryl Krmpotich (508 wins entering Friday) have combined to win 19 state titles since 2002. Weitz is tied for the state lead with 14 titles, and Krmpotich won her fifth last year in the first year of her second stint with the Gaels.

Bishop Gorman vs. Coronado (boys), 8 p.m.

The final game of the event will be another state title rematch. Bishop Gorman and Coronado will close out the long day of basketball in the teams’ first meeting since last year’s 5A state title game.

Coronado (5-9, 3-0 5A Southern League) claimed its first win over Gorman in program history at last year’s Big City Showdown. Gorman (13-3, 3-0) got the last laugh when the Gaels claimed a 63-60 win in the state title game.

There isn’t a shortage of talent on either side. Coronado’s Mason Abittan is considered one of the state’s top players. The 6-foot-6-inch guard committed to UNLV in October.

The Cougars also feature three-star seniors Lantz Stephenson and Jalen St. Clair, and JJ Buchanan, a four-star football recruit who’s committed to Utah.

Gorman returns most of its roster from last year’s state title-winning team with Nick Jefferson, Ilan Nikolov and Jett Washington, a four-star football recruit.

Liberty vs. Sierra Vista (boys), 6 p.m.

This game lost a little bit of its luster when Sierra Vista, the defending 4A state champ, lost 7-footer Xavion Staton, who transferred midseason. The four-star BYU commit left this week to go to Utah Prep to play with his future Cougars teammate AJ Dybantsa.

But the Mountain Lions (11-3) still have plenty of pieces to defend their 4A title and battle with a 5A opponent in Liberty.

Guards EJ Dacuma (18.5 points per game) and Jevon Yapi (13.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists) lead Sierra Vista in scoring. Colton Knoll (11.8 points and 8.1 rebounds) has done a little bit of everything for the Mountain Lions to fill the void left by Staton.

Yapi and Knoll have history with Liberty. They started on Durango’s 2023 5A state title-winning team that defeated Liberty twice in the postseason for the Southern Region and state championships. Yapi and Knoll played with Red Rock Academy last year.

Liberty (6-7) will counter with Jaden Riley (15.8 points), last year’s 5A defensive player of the year, and Dante Steward (15.2).

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.