SUNSET GIRLS: Gorman, Centennial set to renew rivalry

When the Class 4A girls basketball schedule was released, one line grabbed much of the attention.

Feb. 19 — Sunset Region championship.

And why not?

The annual meeting of Bishop Gorman and Centennial is Southern Nevada girls basketball’s version of Ohio State-Michigan, Yankees-Red Sox. Heck, maybe even Hatfields-McCoys.

The Gaels and Bulldogs — winners of the past eight 4A state titles between them — both took care of business Thursday at Palo Verde, ensuring another chapter in the storied rivalry will take place tonight. It’ll be the eighth consecutive time Gorman and Centennial meet in the Sunset final.

Gorman (23-5) whipped Legacy 87-39 in one semifinal. Centennial (24-4) dusted the host Panthers 71-37 in the other.

“It’s like in college, you’ve got Duke-North Carolina, you always love rivalry week,” Gaels coach Sheryl Krmpotich said. “That’s why people come and watch it. It’s nice to have basketball where you have a rivalry.”

The winner will move on to the state tournament in the Reno. The loser’s season is over.

“You can’t forget about what’s after this,” said Centennial coach Karen Weitz, whose team beat Gorman in the region final last year and edged the Gaels in the title game. “Both teams will move on after the game. “We’ll be back next year, or we’ll be up North.”

The Gaels used an 11-0 run midway through the first quarter to begin to pull away, and Legacy couldn’t keep up.

Gorman had four players score in double figures and two more with eight points.

Aaryn Ellenberg scored 25 points in slightly less than three quarters of action. Amber Lane added 14 points for the Gaels. Tonishia Childress came off the bench to score 12 points, and Chelsie Pitt had 10 points.

The Gaels held a 53-38 edge in rebounding, more than neutralizing Legacy’s tall post players. Diamond Majors had 10 rebounds for Gorman.

Breanah Manley paced Legacy (16-12) with 14 points.

In the nightcap, Centennial bolted to a 39-13 halftime lead but didn’t play as well in the final two quarters.

“I thought defensively we did a lot better in the first half,” Weitz said. “We only did things as hard as we needed to do.”

Alexis Byrd led the Bulldogs with 23 points and 11 rebounds, Shannon Brown added 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Ashley Klemz had 11 points.

Courtney Hayes added 13 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who had a 54-39 edge on the boards.

Aundrea Perez had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Panthers (15-8).