Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

High School Basketball:

Palo Verde players never stopped believing, advance to state championship game

Palo wins

Ray Brewer

Members of the Palo Verde High basketball team celebrate beating Canyon Springs in the Division I state high school basketball semifinals at the Orleans Arena on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015.

Prep Sports Now

On to state

Las Vegas Sun sports reporters Ray Brewer and Case Keefer glance at the Division-1 and Division 1-A state tournaments. Are we bound to wind up with repeat champions in both classes?

The Palo Verde High basketball team’s summer practices usually included mention of the Panthers’ goal of winning a state championship in the upcoming season.

While that goal seemed unrealistic to outsiders because of consecutive down seasons, the players knew the kind of talent they had. They believed.

That confidence has translated into a memorable two-week run in the playoffs, including a 50-48 victory today against Canyon Springs in the Division I state semifinals at the Orleans Arena.

Sharpshooting junior guard Taylor Miller drained a 12-footer with 10 seconds remaining for the winning points, and the Panthers forced Canyon Springs star Jordan Davis to lose control of his dribble for a turnover to seal the victory.

Players raced from the bench onto the floor as the buzzer sounded to join a celebration of a lifetime near the media tables.

All the hard work in the summer paid off. More important, the Panthers proved their skeptics wrong yet again.

“At the end of the practice every day, coach would get us in a huddle ask us what our goal was,” Miller said. “We said state. To finally be here is a surreal feeling.”

Palo Verde (21-9) trailed by three points with 90 seconds remaining, but Ja Morgan connected on a 3-pointer to even the score at 48. It wasn’t the first time the Panthers overcame a deficit.

They trailed 12-3 midway through the first quarter, but Miller drained two 3-pointers in trimming the deficit to 16-14 after the first. Canyon Springs extended its lead to seven points by halftime, but Palo Verde scored the initial six points of the second half to start a back-and-forth second half.

In the first half, Canyon Springs got easy baskets off steals. In the second, Palo Verde took care of the ball to keep the game close. The Palo Verde zone defense frustrated Canyon Springs and limited the three-time Sunrise Region champion Pioneers to just 20 second half points.

“Whenever we set up our defense, we held them pretty good,” Palo Verde coach Paul Sanchez said. “(But) bad shot or turnover, they were racing and getting layups on us.”

Palo Verde called a timeout with 26 seconds remaining with the scored tied to draw up the final play. The ball came to Miller in the corner. He faked a 3-point attempt and stepped in for a nothing-but-net jumper to win the game.

Miller, Morgan and Grant Dressler each had solid shooting games. But, with the game on the line, Miller wanted the ball in his hands.

“I trust my teammates to hit shots, but when it comes down to it, I want to hit (the) shot,” he said. “I want the result, for me to have a big part in that. When my teammates find me, I’m ready.”

Miller led Palo Verde with 19 points, Morgan had 17 and Dressler scored 10. Each had first quarter 3-pointers to keep the early deficit manageable.

Davis finished with 18 points for Canyon Springs, but was limited six points in the second half. Maurice Hunter was aggressive on the inside in scoring 10 for the Pioneers and Channel Banks had eight.

Palo Verde advances to Friday’s state championship game to face three-time defending state champion Bishop Gorman, who beat Galena of Reno in the other semifinal.

“In the back of our minds, we all believed,” Miller said. “As we started playing some of the top teams tough, and we started beating some of the top teams in the state, we figured out we could come this far.”

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21

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