Karen Weitz can’t help feeling this rule was created partially with her Centennial High School girls basketball team in mind. The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association’s Board of Control Monday approved a mercy rule for Nevada high school basketball games, which calls for a running clock when one team is ahead by 40 or more points in the second half. To be implemented this winter, the clock would only stop for timeouts and continue to run during fouls shots — comparable to a recreation-league game where teams have the court for one-hour blocks.
When Centennial High girls basketball coach Karen Weitz went to get measured for her state championship ring two years, she instructed the fitter to use the dimensions from her wedding-ring finger. Weitz rarely takes that ring off, proudly sporting something she feels symbolizes what’s she built over the years at Centennial — the state’s most dominating program. Ever. They added to the legacy Friday night.
Liberty High senior Amanda Delgado scored 14 second-half points as the Patriots overcame a five-point halftime deficit to defeat Bishop Gorman 58-53 Thursday and advance to the Class 4A state championship. In the other state semifinal game, Centennial, a perennial state power, advanced to the state championship with an 84-57 victory over Reed High.
No matchup in girls high school basketball has created a collection of games more memorable than Bishop Gorman vs. Centennial over the past nine years. Thursday’s Sunset Region championship between the two teams will not be remembered in the same category as previous meetings. Centennial exposed Bishop Gorman with its pressure defense en route to a statement 82-50 victory.
The Bishop Gorman girls basketball team played one of its worst halves of the year in Thursday’s 61-39 victory against Palo Verde in the Sunset Region semifinals. Before firing on all cylinders to take the Panthers out in the second half, the Gaels went into halftime with only a 19-18 lead.
