FIELDER’S CHOICES: I’m not tanking my state tournament picks
By now you’ve probably heard about the girls basketball game in Tennessee last week involving two teams intentionally trying to lose.
It was a bigger disaster than a court storming at Kansas State.
To recap, during the District 7-AAA consolation game held Saturday in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Riverdale and Smyrna high schools tried to tank in order to avoid being placed in the same side of the region bracket with nationally ranked Blackman (Tenn.).
I’m sure Bishop Gorman fans know what that’s like.
From the referee’s report:
— Riverdale “probably missed 12-16 free throws intentionally.”
— Smyrna deliberately committed 10-second and backcourt violations.
— Players from both teams tried to get called for three-second violations. “One time a Riverdale girl looked at one of the officials and gave the official a 3 second signal wanting him to call three seconds on her.”
The referee finally called both coaches together in the third quarter after a Smyrna player prepared to shoot at her own basket. (It wouldn’t have counted because Smyrna alread had been whistled for a 10-second violation.) Both schools were rightfully booted from the playoffs Monday and the coaches were suspended.
Nothing like that will happen this week when the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association boys and girls state basketball tournaments take place locally. As Herm Edwards would say, “You play to win the game. Hello!”
I took a break from my winter work-study program with Los Angeles’ new NFL team (shhhhh, it’s a secret!) to provide my predictions.
BOYS
DIVISION I
Championship: Bishop Gorman over Canyon Springs
There have been only four McDonald’s All Americans from Las Vegas — I’m not counting Findlay Prep’s imports — and three of them will be at Orleans Arena this week. Quarter Pounders and fries all around!
Canyon Springs coach Freddie Banks (Mickey D’s All American class of 1983) isn’t leaving town any time soon, but if you want to see Bishop Gorman’s Chase Jeter and Stephen Zimmerman before they head off to college, this is your last chance. I’m sure there will be a lot of UNLV fans in attendance trying to sway Big Zimm not to go to Arizona or UCLA, or one of those schools that starts with K.
The Pioneers proved they are capable of pulling a major upset when they beat nationally ranked Findlay Prep on Feb. 2, and Northern Colorado signee Jordan Davis would be a tough cover for Gorman’s backcourt should Canyon Springs get past upstart Palo Verde. Ultimately, the Gaels are just too talented not to win their fourth straight large-school state title.
DIVISION I-A
Championship: Elko over Clark
Chargers coach Chad Beeten, not to mention his five seniors, deserves credit for righting the ship after some early-season turbulence. Clark should advance to the title game for the third straight year, but Elko hasn’t lost to a team from Nevada this season and presents a formidable obstacle for Desert Pines in the other semifinal.
Clark held Nathan Klekas and Co. to 26 percent shooting from the field in last year’s title-game win over the Indians. That won’t happen again.
DIVISION III
Championship: Agassi Prep over Yerington
The Stars should cruise to their second straight title behind standout guard Deishuan Booker. Then we can all speculate how much better Bishop Gorman would have been with Booker still on the roster.
DIVISION IV
Championship: Spring Mountain over Virginia City
The Golden Eagles need to get past Whittell first, but they have to be favored to win their first state title. Spring Mountain defeated Virginia City by one point in December and is riding a 14-game winning streak.
GIRLS
DIVISION I
Championship: Liberty over Centennial
The four teams in the tournament have a combined 100-15 record, and Centennial dished out three of those losses — two to Liberty and one to Bishop Gorman. Bishop Manogue, meanwhile, played the most rigorous schedule of the bunch, with losses to four of Northern California’s top teams. That makes the semifinal between the Bulldogs and Manogue the true state final in many fans’ eyes.
Not mine.
Liberty has been sniffing around a state title since 2010 with no luck, and I think Paris Strawther finally gets it done before she heads to UNLV.
DIVISION I-A
Championship: Spring Valley over Lowry
It’s tough to predict how the Grizzlies — led by precocious freshmen Essence Booker and Kayla Harris — will react in their first appearance at the state tournament. And I’m not putting much stock in Faith Lutheran’s 50-43 victory over Lowry in December since it was the Buckaroos’ season opener.
Spring Valley is the most talented team in the field, and if the Grizzlies shoot north of 40 percent from the field, they’ll win it all regardless of who they face in the final.
DIVISION III
Championship: Incline over Pershing County
These teams have played three times already, with defending state champion Incline holding a 2-1 advantage. First team to 30 points wins.
DIVISION IV
Championship: Smith Valley over Pyramid Lake
Defending champion Pahranagat Valley doesn’t get the opportunity to avenge its two-point loss in December to Smith Valley.
Contact Fielder at Fielder@nevadapreps.com. Follow @FielderNVP on Twitter.
