Las Vegas plays Spring Valley in the class 4A state semifinals at 5:20 p.m. today at Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus. Mojave and Cimarron-Memorial, at 8:40 p.m., are in the other semifinal. The championship game is 7:10 p.m. Saturday.
Not much was expected from the Durango High basketball team after its first game. Paris Estrada, the Trailblazers’ unquestioned leader and a four-year varsity point guard, tore the ACL in his knee in a loss against Canyon Springs. Durango did something today that wasn’t expected back in December when Estrada went down, winning a playoff game by topping visiting Cimarron-Memorial 76-71 in the Sunset quarterfinals.
If Arbor View plans to compile a list of all the milestones it’s reached this season, the Aggies might need to budget for more than one page. In a season full of firsts, the Aggies added three more in Tuesday night’s first round Sunset Regional playoffs. Arbor View both hosted and won a playoff game for the first time, beating Cimarron-Memorial 67-64.
Bishop Gorman High’s Ben Carter nearly had a triple-double Wednesday, posting 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to lead the host Gaels basketball team to an 81-41 victory against Cimarron-Memorial in the Sunset Regional quarterfinal.
Sierra Vista’s defense came out strong from the beginning in Tuesday’s Sunset quarterfinal playoff game against Cimarron-Memorial. It took the offense a while to follow. After only leading 19-15 at halftime, the Mountain Lions pulled away for a resounding 62-39 win against the Spartans.
This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Palo Verde High basketball team. After graduating 10 players from last year’s squad that lost in the Sunset Regional finals, the Panthers had to start from scratch with a core group of players with limited experience. But they returned one starter — unheralded point guard Bronston Abad.
In a tightly contested battle, the Arbor View boys basketball team closed the game on a 13-4 run to defeat Cimarron-Memorial 64-60 Friday. The game was close throughout, with six points being the largest lead for each team.
The Cimarron-Memorial High basketball team didn’t earn any style points Friday night in a 40-38 victory against visiting San Fernando Community Charter of California.
Losing one of the best players in school history is usually a good excuse to endure a rebuilding season. That’s not the mindset this year at Cimarron-Memorial. Despite the graduation of Kevin Olekaibe, who led the state with 36 points per game and is starting as a freshman at Fresno State, the Spartans feel their ready to make another run in the playoffs.