If you plan to attend one high school basketball game, make it this one

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016 | 2 a.m.

The drama is unmatched for a high school sporting event.

The annual Findlay Prep-Bishop Gorman basketball game has delivered on the hype in recent seasons: a back-and-forth, double overtime thriller won on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, a game so anticipated tickets were sold on ticket broker sites, and in the past two seasons games decided on the last possession.

When you consider both teams are usually nationally ranked and have high-profile recruits being courted by hometown UNLV, it quickly becomes a can’t miss affair.

They renew their rivalry at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the South Point Arena in the four-game Big City Showdown looking for another memorable ending. While that’s not guaranteed, officials expect another crowd of around 3,000 fans. The event became so big it moved in 2014 from the 2,500-seat Cox Pavilion to the South Point Arena, which has a capacity of 4,600.

“It’s a lot of great players on both teams going at it and wanting to win,” Findlay Prep coach Andy Johnson said. “It’s a rival. There’s a little extra juice for that game due to the fact that every year we know we are going to play and the level of talent Gorman has.”

In 2014, Gorman beat Findlay Prep by four points, but only after forcing overtime on a buzzer-beater. Last season, Findlay Prep returned the favor with a one-point victory on a blocked shot at the buzzer. Just when it appears the series can’t produce more drama, it delivers another nip-and-tuck result.

“The last two years at the South Point have been a lot of fun. That has been great for the fans,” Gorman coach Grant Rice said. “We are very thankful for the South Point. They have treated us great and embraced the rivalry. We are hoping to make it exciting again this weekend. It is better for the (people of the) city of Las Vegas than any of our programs.”

Findlay Prep (18-0) enters undefeated and ranked in the top-10 of every national poll. It has the UNLV recruit in senior wing Carlos Johnson, and two talented junior guards in Markus Howard and O'Shae Brissett. Each are four-star recruits with double-digit scholarship offers.

But, for the first time since 2009, Findlay Prep doesn’t have a McDonald’s All-American. That honor belongs to Bishop Gorman center Zach Collins, who is averaging 18 points and 14 rebounds per game this season and was picked last weekend for the prestigious postseason all-star game.

Collins had a hand in Gorman’s finest moment in the rivalry. He came off the bench in overtime of the 2014 contest to score five points, including the game-winning bucket, for Gorman’s first win in seven games against Findlay Prep. Gorman is the four-time defending state champions; housed in Henderson, Findlay Prep plays a national schedule.

“It’s two big time teams just clashing together and the whole city is there to watch,” Collins said. “There has never been a blowout. The fact it is in front of so many people makes it exciting.”

The game has been so entertaining in recent years that both coaches joked this week how they wished they could also be spectators.

“The best thing is what it does for high school basketball in the state of Nevada, from a national perspective,” Johnson said. “It shows that in the city of Las Vegas, you have two national-level teams. It’s great to show that off to the whole country.”

The Big City Showdown starts at 11 a.m. with a girls game between local contenders Liberty and Bishop Gorman. The Liberty boys at 12:45 p.m. play Durango, which is followed at 2:30 p.m. by the Centennial boys against Taft High from Southern California.

Student tickets are available for $7 on game day. General admission is $15.

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