Thursday, Feb. 21, 2002 | 10:36 a.m.
Today's semifinal boys matchups
Cheyenne (29-4) vs. Green Valley (28-5), 3:20 p.m.
Las Vegas (29-3) vs. Bishop Gorman (26-6), 6:35 p.m.
Today's semifinal girls matchups
Centennial (32-0) vs. Carson (20-10), 5 p.m.
Bishop Gorman (26-6) vs. Douglas (25-5), 8:10 p.m. (KRLV 1340-AM)
(Games at Reno's Lawlor Events Center)
RENO -- They may not be the teams most people expected to see this week, but Northern Nevada's two remaining girls basketball squads had little trouble upholding their region's longstanding tradition in the sport Wednesday.
Douglas and Carson, the surprise winner and runner-up at last week's topsy-turvy 4A Northern Region Tournament, each posted double-digit wins over their southern opponents in round one of the NIAA/U.S. Bank 4A State Girls Basketball Tournament at Nevada-Reno's Lawlor Events Center.
The duo advances to today's semifinal round, with the goal of reaching Friday's finale and keeping the state's large-school championship in its northern half, where it has resided for 21 consecutive years.
To get to the title round, however, the Tigers and Senators will have to go through Southern Nevada's two remaining hopefuls to end that long drought: unbeaten Centennial and Bishop Gorman.
Carson (20-10) will battle the Bulldogs (32-0) at 5 p.m., with Douglas (25-5) taking on the Gaels (26-6) at 8:10 p.m.
"It's come down to a pride issue," Centennial coach Karen Weitz said. "(My players) definitely want to play a northern team, so hopefully that will bring out some more competitiveness in them. They've got a lot of pride and they hate to lose."
After bowing out of the tournament in round one the past two years, Weitz's squad left nothing to chance this time. The Bulldogs blasted Valley 87-42, breaking the event's all-time scoring mark of 86 on two free throws by Jordyn Bowen in the closing seconds.
"I didn't know that," Weitz said after learning her team had set a new scoring high. "All that we know is there's one record -- no southern team has won here since 1979-80. We're trying to do it for Las Vegas."
All nine Centennial players got into the scoring column, with Karissa Fernandez (19 points), Rachael Schein (16), Whitney Price (16) and Darci Sandoval (15) leading the way. The Vikings (19-14) got 15 points from Felicia Bell and 10 from Natasha Hight in the loss.
Gorman also advanced at the expense of another area squad, besting Green Valley 51-39 in a sloppy game.
"It's ugly, but I'll take it," Gaels coach Sheryl Krmpotich said. "As I say, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. I have a young team, and they played nervous."
Freshman Kaila Mangrum scored a team-high 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
"I was extremely nervous, but I made a couple of baskets and I relaxed," said Mangrum, known to her teammates as "Baby Shaq" for her strength in the paint or "The Mouth" for her famed motivational speeches. "I told them at halftime, 'If we don't start playing better we're going home and I don't want to go home.' "
Shanae Green added 10 points for the Gaels, while Jenn Todd led the Gators (26-7) with 15 points.
In the day's opening game, Carson handled Las Vegas High 59-45, outscoring the Wildcats 41-20 over the second and third quarters.
Katie Kotter (13 points) and Brittany Puzey (12) paced a balanced attack for the Senators. Melissa Cejas tallied 19 points to lead Las Vegas (14-13).
Later in the day, Douglas downed Western 63-52, building a 14-point halftime lead and never letting the Warriors within 11.
Kesha Brewer and Renita Mitchell scored 16 and 12 points, respectively, for Western (16-14).
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