Coronado’s boys basketball team is hoping this postseason will go differently than last year’s.
Coronado enters these playoffs as the No. 1 seed after winning the Class 5A Southern League and beating rival and fellow state title contender Bishop Gorman in the regular season.
That’s what happened last season. However, Gorman edged Coronado for the state title, preventing the Cougars from winning their first championship.
The high school basketball playoffs have already begun with Class 4A Southern Region first-round action.
They continue Monday with the 3A Southern Region quarterfinals and 4A Southern Region quarterfinals Tuesday. The 5A state quarterfinals are Friday.
Here’s a look at how the playoffs shape up:
Class 5A
League champion: Coronado
Favorite: Coronado
The Cougars have the best starting lineup in the state, led by UNLV commit Mason Abittan and scoring guards Jonny Collins and Jalen St. Clair.
Forwards JJ Buchanan, a Utah football commit, and Lantz Stephenson do a little bit of everything inside. The Cougars played a daunting nonconference schedule to get ready for the rigors of the postseason.
Dark horse: Liberty
The Patriots opened their season with a 20-point loss to Bishop Gorman, but they are a much different team from December.
Liberty enters the postseason as the No. 3 seed with wins in seven of its past eight games. The only loss was a 62-59 defeat to Coronado.
Potential first-round upset: Centennial over Bishop Gorman
Centennial is the ultimate wild card in the playoffs. The Bulldogs got off to a 19-1 start before the NIAA ruled they had to forfeit 18 games.
Of the forfeited games, Centennial beat Coronado (70-56) and other 5A playoff teams, including Liberty, Arbor View, Desert Pines and Silverado. The Bulldogs (5-20) won five of their past seven games to clinch a playoff berth.
The postseason could be a fresh start for Centennial to put the situation behind it. Also, you can never count out a Karen Weitz-coached team.
Class 4A
League champions: Sierra Vista (Desert), Rancho (Lake), Green Valley (Mountain) and Legacy (Sky)
Favorite: Sierra Vista
Regardless of classification, Sierra Vista has a case to say it is the top team in the state. The Mountain Lions are in a prime position to repeat as 4A state champions even after losing BYU commit and 7-foot center Xavion Staton midseason.
Guard EJ Dacuma (17 points per game) and Jevon Yapi (15.6) power Sierra Vista’s scoring, and Colton Knoll (12.9 points and 9.2 rebounds) affects games in a variety of ways. Yapi and Knoll played on Durango’s 5A state-title-winning team in 2023
Dark horse: Clark
Clark defeated Shadow Ridge 74-50 in its first-round game Friday. The Chargers are on the bottom of the bracket and would avoid Sierra Vista until the region championship game.
In the regular season, Clark played Sierra Vista the closest among 4A opponents. Three Southern teams qualify for the state tournament, so if the Chargers reach the semifinals and lose, they still aren’t out of it, with a third-place game to determine the South’s third team in the state tournament.
Potential quarterfinal upset: Clark over Green Valley
The Chargers finished second in the more challenging Desert League behind Sierra Vista and ahead of Losee, last year’s Southern Region champion.
Class 3A
League champions: Democracy Prep (Desert) and The Meadows (Mountain)
Co-favorites: Democracy Prep and Mater East
The teams split their two regular-season meetings. Democracy Prep narrowly won the league title on a tiebreaker of points allowed in the head-to-head matchups (129-131).
Mater East beat Democracy Prep for the region title last year, but the Blue Knights returned the favor in the state title game. This edition of the playoffs should produce two more thrilling games between the rivals.
Dark horse: The Meadows
A league champion as a dark horse? That’s the case with how strong Democracy Prep and Mater East are. What could give The Meadows a chance is it would host a semifinal game against Mater East, should both teams win in the opening round, with a state tournament berth on the line.
Potential first-round upset: None
Democracy Prep, Mater East, The Meadows and Boulder City should all win their quarterfinal matchups.
Contact Alex Wright at [email protected]. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
Southern Nevada boys basketball playoff schedule
At 6:30 p.m. at higher seed unless otherwise noted
Class 5A
State quarterfinals
Friday
Game 1: No. 8 Silverado at No. 1 Coronado
Game 2: No. 5 Arbor View at No. 4 Mojave
Game 3: No. 7 Centennial at No. 2 Bishop Gorman
Game 4: No. 6 Desert Pines at No. 3 Liberty
Class 4A Southern Region
First-round results
Game 1: No. 2M Valley 72, No. 3L Canyon Springs 64
Game 2: No. 2L Palo Verde 75, No. 3M Faith Lutheran 63
Game 3: No. 3D Losee 56, No. 2S Cimarron-Memorial 45
Game 4: No. 2D Clark 74, No. 3S Shadow Ridge 50
Quarterfinals
Tuesday
Game 5: No. 2M Valley at No. 1D Sierra Vista
Game 6: No. 2L Palo Verde at No. 1S Legacy
Game 7: No. 3D Losee at No. 1L Rancho
Game 8: No. 2D Clark vs. No. 1M Green Valley, 5 p.m. at Foothill
Class 3A Southern Region
Quarterfinals
Monday
Game 1: No. 4D Moapa Valley at No. 1M The Meadows
Game 2: No. 3M Sloan Canyon at No. 2D Mater East
Game 3: No. 4M Coral Academy at No. 1D Democracy Prep
Game 4: No. 3D Virgin Valley at No. 2M Boulder City
