Nevada

3 Big City Showdown takeaways: Coronado a 5A state title favorite

Published

2 years ago

January 21, 2024

3 Big City Showdown takeaways: Coronado a 5A state title favorite

Saturday’s Big City Showdown at Coronado mirrored that of college football’s Separation Saturday for high school basketball teams in Southern Nevada.

The seven-game event was highlighted by a trio of games featuring the state’s top four boys basketball teams and two best girls basketball teams.

When the final buzzer sounded Saturday night, the playoff races became a bit clearer.

Here are three takeaways from the Big City Showdown:

1. Coronado serious contender

Coach Jeff Kaufman’s celebration might have been a little subdued after the Cougars’ 74-63 win over Bishop Gorman, the first win in program history over the Gaels, since it’s still January.

But the Cougars showed that they have a chance to check off another first for the program: winning a state championship.

“I’m happy to get the win. It feels great that it was against (Gorman),” Kaufman said. “It’s good, but we still have a long way to go. It’s just one game.”

Coronado relied heavily on its starting lineup against Gorman, with all five starters scoring in double figures. Lantz Stephenson scored 21 points, and Josiah Cunningham added 19. Jonny Collins poured in 13 points, and Tee Bartlett and JJ Buchanan each added 10 points.

Kaufman praised his starters, calling them “tough” and “versatile” in the win against Gorman, but acknowledged there’s still room for improvement in what’s shaping up to be another close battle for the Class 5A state title.

“Hopefully by February, we’re fixing those problems and we can handle those teams,” Kaufman said. “There are a lot of good teams we have to contend with, and I’m sure we’re going to see Gorman again.”

2. Liberty gets revenge

Simply put, Liberty didn’t defend well in its 67-53 loss to Arbor View in a tournament game Dec. 22, coach Kevin Soares said, which was the Patriots’ only loss entering Saturday.

When the teams faced off for their regular-season league meeting, Liberty’s defense stood tall, holding Arbor View scoreless for a 4:30 stretch in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 62-50 win.

“The first time we played, we let (Arbor View) do whatever they wanted. They ran whatever they wanted on offense,” Soares said. “This time, we got them out of running their offensive sets, and it worked out pretty well.”

The Patriots, No. 1 in the Review-Journal’s 5A rankings, went on an 11-0 run during Arbor View’s drought and made 15 fourth-quarter free throws to pull out the win. Sophomore Tyus Thomas scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth.

Thomas has taken over the reins as Liberty’s point guard from his older brother, UNLV point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. The recent play from Tyus Thomas can help Liberty make a run to try and win its second 5A state title in three seasons.

“He knows when to take his shot, drive to the basket and get everybody else involved,” Soares said. “He’s playing excellent basketball.”

3. Still Centennial

If there was a year the Centennial girls basketball team’s run of dominance would come to an end, this season looked like the time.

Instead, with 5A as deep as it’s ever been and Centennial down some key contributors, the Bulldogs made a statement that they are still the team to beat after their 68-57 win over previously top-ranked Bishop Gorman.

“There’s competition right now in the city, and it’s growing. That’s fun and it’s nice,” coach Karen Weitz said. “You have to embrace it, and that’s what we want to do.”

Centennial has won the last eight state titles in the top classification. A defeat to Gorman on Feb. 13, 2014, was the last time the Bulldogs lost a league game.

Freshman Nation Williams, who holds notable Division I offers from Tennessee, North Carolina, UCLA, Florida and Arizona, has already emerged as one of the top players in the state. The Bulldogs recently welcomed back Cici Ajomale, a Cal State Fullerton commit, who was one of three starters who tore their ACLs in the offseason.

“We don’t want to play games where we’re not challenged every time. …. I want to play the best every night,” Weitz said. “I want to play against people that are going to make us better, and that’s what we loved about playing (Gorman) tonight.”

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

Source link

Nevada

Red Flag Warning issued for heightened fire danger in Southern Nevada

Published

5 hours ago

June 8, 2026

Press Room

Red Flag Warning issued for heightened fire danger in Southern Nevada

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — We’ll start the week with a heightened fire danger with dangerous heat later this week.

TODAY

Expect mostly sunny skies with winds picking up again on Monday. High temperatures will reach 98 degrees in Las Vegas with south winds 10-20 mph and wind gusts up to 30 mph.

A RED FLAG WARNING is in place from 10am to 9pm Monday for gusty winds and dry weather, so if a fire started, it would spread quickly.

Winds are estimated to be 20-25 mph with gusts around 40 mph at times with relative humidity of 5%-15%.

Air quality is ranked ‘good’ to ‘moderate’ for dust and tree pollen. The most common pollens are juniper, cedar, willow, sycamore and palm.

TONIGHT

We’ll see variable clouds this evening with skies going from mostly cloudy to mostly clear overnight.

Wind gusts will pick up again before midnight with gusts 30-40 mph possible downslope of the Spring Mountains in the west valley.

Elsewhere, gusts will be 20-30 mph. Breezes will eventually back down to 5-15 mph overnight. Valley lows will drop to around 74 degrees.

WHAT’S NEXT

We have reached 109 consecutive days without measurable rain in Las Vegas.

No rain is in sight, but for perspective, June is the driest month of the year in Las Vegas. Fingers crossed on a hopefully more active monsoon season!

High pressure builds next with highs 5-10 degrees above normal. Temperatures will reach around 108 degrees in Las Vegas by Friday. The last time we hit a high temperature of 108 degrees was back on August 20th of last year.

Not much relief is in sight by the weekend with highs around 107 degrees and temps at or above 105-106 degrees NEXT Monday through Wednesday.

Source link

Nevada

DNA Doe Project unlocks cold case in Nevada

Published

15 hours ago

June 8, 2026

Press Room

DNA Doe Project unlocks cold case in Nevada

Growing DNA databases continue to unlock decades-old cold cases. How the DNA Doe Project helped to identify remains 37 years later.

Posted
6/8/2026, 2:51:05 AM

Source link

Nevada

Meet the 2026 Nevada Preps All-Southern Nevada boys volleyball team

Published

1 day ago

June 7, 2026

Press Room

Meet the 2026 Nevada Preps All-Southern Nevada boys volleyball team

First team

Ty Ahlstrom, Centennial – The junior had 373 digs and was a first-team 5A all-state libero for the 5A state runner-up.

Evan Ditmar, Palo Verde – The senior first-team 5A all-state outside hitter had 187 kills with a .328 hitting percentage.

Luke Hashimoto, Arbor View – The senior had 302 digs and 37 aces for the 5A state champion.

Porter Hughes, Basic – The senior had 373 kills with 218 digs and 38 aces for the 5A state semifinalist.

Lincoln Larson, Centennial – The senior was the 5A state player of the year and was second in the state with 460 kills, on a .371 hitting percentage, and added 283 digs and 72 aces for the 5A state runner-up.

Jagger Mendenhall, Palo Verde – The senior first-team 5A all-state setter had 414 assists.

Risden Miller, Arbor View – The junior led the 5A state champion with 279 kills and added 173 digs.

RJ Regalado, Centennial – The senior had 723 assists and was a first-team 5A all-state.

Max Romzek, Shadow Ridge – The junior had 152 kills on a .437 hitting percentage with 66 blocks for the 5A state semifinalist.

Mateo Salomon, Shadow Ridge – The sophomore had 169 kills with a .374 hitting percentage for the 5A state semifinalist.

Keagan Sugden, Arbor View – The junior setter led the state with 1,129 assists for the 5A state champion.

Mau Tuiaana, Centennial – The senior had 162 kills on a .397 hitting percentage, 92 blocks and 147 digs for the 5A state runner-up.

Kenyon Wickliffe, Arbor View – The senior had a .477 hitting percentage with 176 kills and 46 blocks for the 5A state champion. He is committed to Cal State Northridge.

Jacob Wienke, Desert Oasis – The senior was the 4A Mountain League player of the year led the Diamondbacks with 290 kills and 154 digs on their way to the 4A state title.

Coach of the year

Nicole Adarme, Arbor View – Guided the Aggies to the Class 5A state title, the program’s first boys volleyball title.

Second team

Graham Blanchard, Arbor View – The senior had 179 kills, 32 aces and 136 digs for the 5A state champion.

Zelworth Chavis, Liberty – The 4A Lake League player of the year had 731 assists and 64 aces for the 4A state semifinalist.

Zavier Coleman, Shadow Ridge – The senior had 139 kills and 136 digs and was a first-team 5A all-state selection.

Andrew Gutierrez, Palo Verde – The junior had 153 kills 35 aces and was a first-team 5A all-state outside hitter.

Ty Hardy, Basic – The senior had 274 kills and 257 digs for the 5A state semifinalist.

Ty Harper, Shadow Ridge – The senior had 211 digs and was a first-team 5A all-state selection for the 5A state semifinalist.

Kaleb Law, Mojave – The senior was the 4A Sky League player of the year and was second in the state with 436 kills on a .457 hitting percentage with 69 blocks, 55 aces and 249 digs to help the Rattlers reach the 4A state semifinals.

Oakland Liugalua, Cadence — The freshman had 406 kills on a .396 hitting percentage with 154 digs and 57 aces.

Gavin McColl, Centennial – The senior had 154 kills on a .333 hitting percentage with 94 blocks for the 5A state runner-up.

Brad Rappleye, Sky Pointe – The junior was the 4A Desert League player of the year and had 187 kills and 78 blocks to help the Eagles reach the 4A state title game.

Levi Randall, Boulder City – The junior had 149 kills with a .477 hitting percentage and 92 blocks for the 3A state champion.

Yeheshua Ruiz, Foothill – The senior had 157 kills with a .426 hitting percentage with 70 blocks and was a first-team 5A all-state selection.

Preston Van Beveren, Boulder City – The senior had 137 kills on a .457 hitting percentage with 99 blocks, 27 aces and 141 digs for the 3A state champion.

David Zwahlen, Boulder City – The 3A state player of the year had 232 kills with a .364 hitting percentage, with 337 digs and 70 aces.