Columnist Spencer Patterson: Silverado's success: Enjoy it while it lasts

Spencer Patterson's prep sports notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-4085.

Since opening in 1994, Silverado High School has spent many an athletic season chasing its fellow new schools, particularly nearby Green Valley, in the standings.

The Skyhawks have certainly built a winning girls program, with the school's volleyball, basketball and softball teams perennially among the best in town.

Silverado has also had success in some of the individual-oriented sports, such as wrestling, golf and swimming, over the past few seasons.

But when it comes to the big-name sports, most notably football and boys basketball, the Skyhawks have been also-rans from the start. That is, until this season.

Suddenly, the Henderson-area school has become a contender across the board, earning its first-ever zone playoff berths in football and boys basketball this season. And when the baseball season rolls around, Silverado will be the odds-on favorite to capture its first state title, with six Division I early signees on the roster.

If anyone is surprised by all the Skyhawks' athletic recent success, though, they shouldn't be. Silverado is now Nevada's largest high school, with more than 3,600 students -- 42 percent over capacity.

My message to Skyhawk sports fans is this: Enjoy it while you can. By next year, the school board is expected to alter the school's zone boundaries to cut down on overcrowding, and that could have a dramatic effect on the Silverado athletic program.

Don't think it will? Well, then look to the north -- where Cimarron-Memorial and Cheyenne are proof of the toll such a boundary change can have.

Just last year, the Spartans were the toast of the town, winning state titles in football, boys basketball and wrestling and nearly turning the trick in baseball as well. Now, with areas that used to feed into Cimarron sectioned for Palo Verde and Centennial, the Spartans are already feeling the talent tug.

Likewise, Cheyenne's sharp decline in football and boys basketball this year can largely be chalked up to the openings of Mojave and Centennial during the past several years. The Desert Shields and Rattlers both lost in round one of the zone basketball playoffs Tuesday night, but imagine how good a squad combing the best players from those two teams might have been.

It's still unclear exactly how much of its existing zone Silverado will lose to Foothill next year. But one thing is certain: the following year another new school in Henderson will open, and that will certainly have a significant effect on Skyhawk sports.

So Silverado fans, get out there and cheer your basketball teams on Friday night at Valley. And when baseball starts, don't miss out on the opportunity to see one of the state's most talented clubs in recent history.

Because in ever-expanding Southern Nevada, athletic success can disappear as quickly as it arrives on a high school campus.

* ADDED INCENTIVE: The top three finishers in each weight class at this weekend's 4A State Wrestling Tournament will received free entry into the prestigious 24-Hour Fitness Western Junior Regionals, a tournament slated for April 19-22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

More than 2,500 athletes are expected to compete in the event, which will feature freestyle, Greco-Roman and women's divisions.

* NOTABLE: Rancho receiver Rod Lukes has signed to play football at Division I-AA school Alcorn State. The 6-3. 170-pounder was a two-time Sun first-team All-State selection, catching 37 passes for 608 yards and six touchdowns as a senior...

Green Valley's Brian Karr became the first area wrestler to bowl a 300 game this season on Tuesday, achieving the rare feat in the Gators' playoff win over Chaparral at the Orleans...

On the Internet, rivals.nevadapreps.com will broadcast all Sunrise and Sunset Region semifinal and final boys and girls basketball games this Friday and Saturday...

KRLV 1340-AM will air Friday's Centennial-Durango girls semifinal live at 6:30 p.m. and Friday's Bishop Gorman-Clark boys semifinal live at 8:15 p.m. The station will also air Sunset girls and boys championship contests on Saturday, at 5 and 7 p.m., respectively.

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