Nevada Preps: State championship events begin this week

The high school sports season is in its final week, and the spotlight is on the spring sports state championship events.

State champions will be crowned across the eight spring sports this week, and there are plenty of interesting storylines.

Here’s a breakdown of the state championship events:

Baseball

Bishop Gorman rolled through the Class 5A Southern Region playoffs and will enter the state tournament as the favorite. The tournament begins Thursday at UNR’s Peccole Park.

Gorman claimed the region title and the South’s No. 1 seed in the tournament over Desert Oasis. The Diamondbacks eliminated defending state champion Basic on Thursday to qualify for the state tournament.

The Gaels, on a 21-game winning streak, have won eight state titles, but their last one was in 2015. The Diamondbacks won the title in 2019.

In 4A, No. 1 seeds and league champions Shadow Ridge (Mountain) and Foothill (Desert) will play in a winners’ bracket game Thursday at College of Southern Nevada for a spot in Saturday’s title game.

Boys golf

Palo Verde, Bishop Gorman and Shadow Ridge are the three Southern teams that qualified for the state tournament Wednesday and Thursday in Sparks.

Palo Verde won the Southern Region title with a team score of 22-over 598, edging Gorman by four strokes. Defending champion Coronado did not qualify for the team championship.

Durango won the 4A state title Thursday.

Boys volleyball

Spots in the boys volleyball state title matches will be decided after Monday’s state semifinal action.

Defending 5A state champion Shadow Ridge will play at Mountain League champion Coronado in one semifinal, and Palo Verde will play at Desert League champion Centennial in the other semifinal. Both matches are at 6 p.m.

Shadow Ridge will host the 5A (7 p.m.), 4A (3 p.m.) and 3A (5 p.m.) state title matches Wednesday.

Softball

Class 5A Southern representatives Centennial and Palo Verde will travel to Reno to determine a state champion.

Centennial, which finished second in the Desert League, won the Southern Region title and will be the South’s No. 1 seed. Palo Verde defeated defending champion Green Valley in an elimination game Thursday to qualify for the state tournament. Both teams will face tough competition from Northern champion Douglas, which has won 22 straight games.

In 4A, No. 1 seeds and league champions Bishop Gorman (Mountain) and Silverado (Desert) will meet Thursday at CSN, where the winner will advance to Saturday’s state title game. The Gaels are undefeated against 4A opponents.

Swimming and diving

The Coronado girls and Palo Verde boys enter the 5A state meet as the defending champions and favorites after winning Southern Region titles. Carson City will host the 5A and 3A state meets Friday and Saturday.

Both schools have a chance to sweep both state titles, as Palo Verde finished second in the girls region meet and Coronado second in the boys. Palo Verde won its eighth straight boys title last year, edging Coronado by 14 points.

The 4A state meet will be Tuesday and Wednesday at UNLV. The Faith Lutheran girls and Clark boys are the defending state champions. Arbor View (Desert) and Faith Lutheran (Mountain) won the girls region titles, and Liberty (Desert) and Desert Oasis (Mountain) claimed the boys titles.

Track and field

The top track and field athletes from all five classifications will convene Friday and Saturday at Liberty High for the state championship meet.

It could be a good homecoming for the Patriots, who swept the 5A Southern Region boys and girls team titles. While the Liberty boys ran away with the region title, the battle on the girls side should be much closer.

The Liberty girls edged Centennial by 4.5 points. The Bulldogs are looking to win their 11th straight state title. McQueen won the boys title last year.

In 4A, the Canyon Springs boys and Palo Verde girls are the defending champions. Palo Verde (Desert) and Shadow Ridge (Mountain) won the girls region titles. Desert Oasis (Desert) and Shadow Ridge (Mountain) won the boys region titles.

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