Nevada
New champions could be coming as spring state week begins
The high school sports season is almost over.
All eight spring sports will crown state champions this week. Most of those title races remain wide open heading down the home stretch.
Here’s a breakdown of the state championship events:
Baseball
A new 5A champion will be crowned after the last two — Bishop Gorman and Basic — missed the playoffs. The 5A state tournament begins Thursday at Bishop Gorman.
Palo Verde and Coronado, who both finished second in their respective leagues, advanced to the state tournament. Palo Verde defeated Coronado on Friday for the Southern Region title to earn the South’s No. 1 seed. Coronado will be the South’s No. 2 seed.
Both teams are looking for their second baseball state titles. Palo Verde won the 4A title in 2018 and Coronado won it in 2013.
In 4A, Durango and Silverado face off in a winners’ bracket game Thursday at Faith Lutheran for a spot in Saturday’s title game.
Boys golf
Shadow Ridge, Coronado and Bishop Gorman are the three Southern teams that qualified for the 5A state tournament on Wednesday and Thursday in Pahrump.
Shadow Ridge won the Southern Region title by nine strokes with a team score of 6-over 574. Bishop Gorman won the 5A state title last year.
Doral Academy won the 4A state title Tuesday.
Boys volleyball
Boys volleyball begins the week of state-title action Tuesday. Sunrise Mountain will host the 5A (7 p.m.), 4A (5 p.m.) and 3A (3 p.m.) state-title matches.
Coronado and Palo Verde will play for the 5A state title. The teams split their two regular-season meetings, each winning in four sets.
Coronado won the Mountain League title on a tiebreaker and knocked out two-time defending champion Shadow Ridge in the semifinals Thursday. Palo Verde swept Desert League champion Green Valley in the other semifinal.
Bishop Gorman and Basic will meet for the 4A title. Two-time reigning champion Boulder City faces Virgin Valley for the 3A title.
Softball
Palo Verde and Coronado emerged out of the challenging Mountain League to advance to the state tournament, which begins Thursday at Bishop Gorman.
The Panthers won the Southern Region title Friday and will be the South’s No. 1 seed. Coronado will be the South’s No. 2 seed.
Palo Verde, which qualified for last year’s state tournament, is seeking its fourth softball state title. Coronado is looking for its first. Both teams will have to get through Northern champ and reigning state champion Douglas, which is 30-4 and has won 16 straight games.
The 4A state tournament continues Thursday at Faith Lutheran. Desert Oasis and Sierra Vista play in a winners’ bracket game Thursday for a spot in Saturday’s title game.
Swimming and diving
The state’s top swimmers and divers will meet in Las Vegas for the 5A, 4A and 3A state tournaments.
Divers will compete Friday at UNLV’s Buchanan Natatorium. 4A swimmers will race Thursday at Pavilion Center Pool, while 5A and 3A swimmers will compete Saturday.
The Palo Verde boys and Coronado girls are the reigning 5A champions entering the state meet.
Palo Verde, which has won the last nine boys titles, remains the favorite this year after winning the Southern Region title last week by 127 points over Bishop Gorman.
Coronado will have a tougher time defending the girls title. Palo Verde won the girls region title, edging Coronado 433.5-432.
The 4A state meet begins Thursday. The Sierra Vista boys and Tech girls won the 4A Desert Region titles, while the Basic boys and Doral Academy girls won the 4A Mountain Region titles. The Liberty boys and Faith Lutheran girls won the 4A state titles last year, but both moved up to 5A.
Track and field
The Centennial girls’ run of dominance in track and field came to an end last year when Liberty won the 5A girls title. That snapped the Bulldogs’ run of 10 championships in a row.
Centennial is back to being favorites this year. The Bulldogs ran away with the 5A girls Southern Region title Saturday, finishing 46 points head of Liberty. Shadow Ridge won the boys region title by 26 points over Liberty.
The state meet will take place Friday and Saturday in Carson City.
Desert Oasis will host the 4A state meet beginning Friday. The Mojave boys and Arbor View girls won the 4A Mountain Region titles. The Desert Oasis boys and girls won the Desert Region titles. The Shadow Ridge boys and Palo Verde girls are the reigning champions, but both moved up to 5A after offseason realignment.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
State championship schedule
Baseball
5A: Thursday-Saturday at Bishop Gorman and Faith Lutheran
4A: Thursday-Saturday at Bishop Gorman and Faith Lutheran
3A: Thursday-Saturday at Churchill County High School
2A: Thursday-Saturday at Durango High School
1A: Thursday-Saturday at Fernley High School
Boys golf
5A: Wednesday, Thursday at Mountain Falls Golf Club, Pahrump
3A: Tuesday, Wednesday at Mountain Falls Golf Club, Pahrump
2A: Tuesday, Wednesday at Ruby View Golf Course, Elko
Boys volleyball
At Sunrise Mountain
5A: 7 p.m. Tuesday
4A: 5 p.m. Tuesday
3A: 3 p.m. Tuesday
Softball
5A: Thursday-Saturday at Bishop Gorman and Faith Lutheran
4A: Thursday-Saturday at Bishop Gorman and Faith Lutheran
3A: Thursday-Saturday at Churchill County High School
2A: Thursday-Saturday at Durango High School
1A: Thursday-Saturday at Fernley High School
Swimming and diving
5A and 3A: Friday (Diving) at UNLV’s Buchanan Natatorium and Saturday (Swimming) at Pavilion Center Pool
4A: Thursday (Swimming) at Pavilion Center Pool and Friday (Diving) at UNLV’s Buchanan Natatorium
Track and field
Class 5A, 3A, 2A and 1A: Friday and Saturday at Carson City High School
Class 4A: Friday and Saturday at Desert Oasis High School
Nevada
Oregon lands commitment from Nevada punter
Oregon has found its next Australian punter.
Bailey Ettridge, who averaged 44.66 yards on 47 punts at Nevada this season, committed to transfer to the Ducks on Sunday. He has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
From Lara, Australia, Ettridge had 15 punts over 50 yards and 18 inside opponents’ 20-yard lines this season. He also had two carries for 26 yards, both of which converted fourth downs.
Ettridge replaces James Ferguson-Reynolds, who is averaging 41.64 yards on 33 punts for UO this season. Ferguson-Reynolds and Ross James are both out of eligibility after the season.
Ettridge is the first scholarship transfer to Oregon this offseason and his addition gives the Ducks 81 projected scholarship players in 2026. He is the lone punter presently on the roster.
No. 1 Indiana (14-0) vs. No. 5 Oregon (13-1)
- When: Friday, January 9
- Time: 4:30 p.m. PT
- Where: Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta
- TV: ESPN and ABC
- Stream: You can watch this game on DIRECTV (free trial) or with Sling (a Sling day pass to watch this game and more is just $4.99). Streaming broadcasts for this game will be available on these streaming services locally in Oregon and Washington, but may not be available outside of the Pacific Northwest, depending on your location.
Nevada
‘Winnemucca Day’ helps fuel Backus, Wolf Pack to 58-40 win over Utah State
RENO, Nev. (Nevada Athletics) – Nevada Women’s Basketball returned to Lawlor for the first game of 2026, hosting Utah State.
The Pack picked up its first conference win of the season with the 58-40 victory over the Aggies.
Freshmen showed out for the Pack (5-9, 1-3 MW) with Skylar Durley nearly recording a double-double, dropping 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Britain Backus had five points to go along with two rebounds and a season high four steals.
Junior Izzy Sullivan also had an impactful game with 17 points, going 6-for-11 from the paint and grabbing five boards. She also knocked down Nevada’s only two makes from beyond the arc, putting her within one for 100 career threes.
The Pack opened up scoring the first four points, setting the tone for the game. It was a close battle through the first 10 as Utah State (6-7, 2-2 MW) closed the gap to one.
However, Nevada never let them in front for the entire 40 minutes.
Nevada turned up the pressure in the second quarter, holding Utah State to a shooting drought for over four minutes. Meanwhile, a 5-0 scoring run pushed the Pack to a 10-point lead.
For the entire first 20, Nevada held Utah State to just 26.7 percent from the floor and only nine percent from the arc, going only 1-for-11.
For the Pack offense, it shot 48 percent from the paint. Nevada fell into a slump coming out of the break, only scoring eight points.
It was the only quarter where the Pack was outscored.
The fourth quarter saw the Pack get back into rhythm with a 6-0 run and forcing the Aggies into another long scoring drought of just under four and a half minutes.
Durley had a layup and jumper to help with securing the win.
Nevada will remain at home to face Wyoming on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
Copyright 2026 KOLO. All rights reserved.
Nevada
EDITORIAL: Nevada’s House Democrats oppose permitting reform
Politicians of both parties have promised to fix the nation’s broken permitting system. But those promises have not been kept, and the status quo prevails: longer timelines, higher costs and a regulatory maze that makes it nearly impossible to build major projects on schedule.
Last week, the House finally cut through the fog by passing the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act. As Jeff Luse reported for Reason, the legislation is the clearest chance in years to overhaul a system that has spun out of control.
Notably, virtually every House Democrat — including Reps. Dina Titus, Susie Lee and Steven Horsford from Nevada — opted for the current regulatory morass.
The proposal addressed problems with the National Environmental Policy Act, which passed in the 1970s to promote transparency, but has grown into an anchor that drags down public and private investment. Mr. Luse notes that even after Congress streamlined the act in 2021, the average environmental impact statement takes 2.4 years to complete. That number speaks for itself and does not reflect the many reviews that stretch far beyond that already unreasonable timeline.
The SPEED Act tackles these failures head on. It would codify recent Supreme Court guidance, expand the projects that do not require exhaustive review and set real expectations for federal agencies that too often slow-walk approvals. Most important, it puts long-overdue limits on litigation. Mr. Luse highlights the absurdity of the current six-year window for filing a lawsuit under the Environmental Policy Act. Between 2013 and 2022, these lawsuits delayed projects an average of 4.2 years.
While opponents insist the bill would silence communities, Mr. Luse notes that NEPA already includes multiple public hearings and comment periods. Also, the vast majority of lawsuits are not filed by members of the people who live near the projects. According to the Breakthrough Institute, 72 percent of NEPA lawsuits over the past decade came from national nonprofits. Only 16 percent were filed by local communities. The SPEED Act does not shut out the public. It reins in well-funded groups that can afford to stall projects indefinitely.
Some Democrats claim the bill panders to fossil fuel companies, while some Republicans fear it will accelerate renewable projects. As Mr. Luse explains, NEPA bottlenecks have held back wind, solar and transmission lines as often as they have slowed oil and gas. That is why the original SPEED Act won support from green energy groups and traditional energy producers.
Permitting reform is overdue, and lawmakers claim to understand that endless red tape hurts economic growth and environmental progress alike. The SPEED Act is the strongest permitting reform proposal in years. The Senate should approve it.
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