‘Serious complications’ derail basketball showcase

Coronado was scheduled to host a boys basketball showcase this weekend.

But what was originally supposed to be a six-game event over two days has been all but canceled.

“We just couldn’t get it right,” Coronado coach Jeff Kaufman said. “It was better to scrap it, so that’s what we’re doing.”

Two of the originally scheduled games remain, but only one will be played at Coronado. Findlay Prep will play Foothill at 6:30 p.m. today at Coronado. The Pilots then will play at Desert Pines at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Kaufman declined to go into the specific reasons for canceling the event.

“It was a whole long story,” Kaufman said. “The bottom line is it’s just not going to happen this week.

“There were just some serious complications. As much as I hate it, we’re going to cancel it.”

Though Kaufman wouldn’t go into specifics, at least part of the problem appears to be with two teams that were not originally on the schedule.

Clark originally was supposed to play La Lumiere (Ind.) on Saturday at Coronado. But Clark coach Chad Beeten said La Lumiere was replaced with Montrose Christian (Md.) around the start of the basketball season. Trinity replaced Ribet Academy (Calif.), which was scheduled to take on Coronado.

But neither Montrose nor Trinity is part of a state association. Trinity withdrew from the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association last month, and it is a violation of NIAA rules for a team to compete against a school not recognized by a state association.

“(Clark County School District) had some issues, so we actually are not going to do it,” Kaufman said.

But Ray Mathis, the CCSD’s executive athletic director, said the district athletic office had nothing to do with shutting down the event.

“It’s not CCSD athletics that had a problem with it, because it’s not our event,” Mathis said. “If somebody’s saying that we had a problem with it, that’s not true.”

Mathis said Coronado arranged for officials and staff for the event, and the district wasn’t supposed to receive part of the gate.

“I didn’t have a concern, because it wasn’t our game,” Mathis said. “They’re not selling district tickets. District employees are not being paid. They’re paying their own security, they negotiated with the (Southern Nevada Officials Association) for officials. We really didn’t have a dog in this fight.”

Mathis said NIAA schools that played teams that are not part of a state athletic association would be subject to fines or sanctions, and he suspects that’s the reason the event was scrapped.

“I think this was a decision that they made on their own based on schools finding out they were not members of the association,” Mathis said.

“I think it probably was a wise decision unless you want to get some schools in trouble.”

■ HART LEAVES LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas boys soccer coach Vince Hart said he resigned — and did not retire — after 12 seasons with the Wildcats.

Hart guided Las Vegas to Class 4A state titles in 2008 and 2009 and won five Northeast League titles. The Wildcats were 12-6-4 in 2013 and advanced to the Sunrise Region semifinals.

Since 2007, the Wildcats were 87-22-21 under Hart.

■ VAUGHN TO ANNOUNCE — Findlay Prep standout Rashad Vaughn is expected to announce his college choice on Saturday. Vaughn, a 6-foot-6-inch guard considered to be one of the nation’s top 10 seniors, is expected to choose among UNLV, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina.

■ RECENT COMMITMENTS — Foothill senior Zack Avery to Monterrey Peninsula College (Calif.) for baseball. ... Valley senior Aliya Salas to Cal State-San Bernardino for women’s soccer.