Valley’s playoff fate rests in Rancho’s hands

Valley’s boys volleyball team might spend part of Thursday making signs in support of Rancho.

OK, maybe not, but the Vikings will certainly be cheering for Rancho on Friday.

Resigned to sitting and watching as its playoff fate is determined, Valley must hope the Rams beat Desert Pines in the Northeast League’s regular-season finale in order for the Vikings to qualify for the postseason.

The Northeast is the most undecided of the four Class 4A leagues, which end regular-season play this week. The top four teams in each league qualify for the region tournaments, which begin Tuesday.

Playoff seedings and matchups are unofficial until announced by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association. The official pairings should be released after Friday’s match.

In the meantime, here’s an unofficial look at each league’s playoff picture.

In the Northeast, Las Vegas (12-0) completed a sweep of league play and is the No. 1 seed.

Rancho (8-3) is the No. 2 seed, despite a surprising loss to Canyon Springs (6-6) on Wednesday.

The Pioneers will be the No. 3 seed as they would win a head-to-head tiebreaker against Desert Pines (5-6), the only team that can still catch Canyon Springs.

Valley (5-7) is still in the hunt, but it appears Chaparral (also 5-7) is not.

If Desert Pines beats Rancho on Friday, the Jaguars get the final playoff spot. If Rancho wins, Valley, Chaparral and Desert Pines all tie at 5-7.

Here’s where it gets tricky. All three teams split with each other, washing out the first tiebreaker. The second tiebreaker in a three-team tie is head-to-head games won. Desert Pines and Valley each won eight games and Chaparral seven in those meetings, eliminating Chaparral and sending Desert Pines and Valley back to the start in a two-way tie.

The teams split head-to-head meetings (Desert Pines was a 3-1 winner, Valley a 3-0 winner) and will have beaten the same opponents. Valley gets the edge on head-to-head games won, 4-3.

The rest of this isn’t quite as confusing.

Coronado (13-0) has wrapped up the Southeast League title and the No. 1 seed.

Silverado and Basic (both 10-3) are tied for second. Silverado visits Green Valley on Thursday. Basic is home to Coronado.

The Wolves win tiebreakers at both 11-3 and 10-4 on beaten opponents’ points and will be the No. 2 seed unless they lose and Silverado wins.

Green Valley (8-5) is the No. 4 seed.

The Sunset Region presents a far clearer picture with the Northwest League’s spots already determined. Shadow Ridge (13-0) will try to complete a run of the table Thursday against Cimarron-Memorial and has secured the No. 1 seed.

Centennial (11-2) is locked into the No. 2 spot with Palo Verde (9-4) and Cimarron (8-5) trailing. Should they tie at 9-5, Palo Verde wins the tiebreaker over Cimarron because the Panthers swept the Spartans.

In the Southwest, Sierra Vista’s (14-0) thrilling five-game win over Bonanza on Wednesday completed a perfect league season and secured the No. 1 seed. Bonanza (12-2) is the No. 2 seed.

Bishop Gorman (9-5) earned the No. 3 seed, and the Gaels’ victory over Desert Oasis on Wednesday dropped Spring Valley (9-5) to the No. 4 spot.

Gorman and the Grizzlies split their season series and beat the same opponents. Gorman won five games to Spring Valley’s three in head-to-head matchups.