The rematch of last year’s state title game was never close.
No. 2 seed Democracy Prep dominated No. 7 Centennial from the opening tip, rolling to a 62-29 victory in a Class 5A girls basketball state quarterfinal Wednesday night at Doolittle Community Center in Las Vegas.
Democracy Prep (15-6) will face No. 3 Shadow Ridge in a state semifinal on Feb. 18 at Valley High, with time to be determined.
Centennial (5-18) entered as the No. 7 seed after forfeiting 15 games (11 wins) due to an administrative error involving a grade check. The Bulldogs and Blue Knights had met Jan. 3, with Democracy Prep winning 60-59 — a rematch of the 2025 state title game won by Centennial.
But Wednesday’s playoff opener was never in doubt. Elyah Ocampo led Democracy Prep with 14 points. Bray’ana Miles scored all 12 of her points in the second half, adding six assists, six steals and three rebounds. Avery Freeman had nine points, while La’Niah Hicks and Serenity Fox each added eight.
“The preparation this week was amazing,” Democracy Prep coach Julius Barren said. “With all due respect to (Centennial), I told (our girls) that our A-game against their A-game, it’s a double-digit difference. We knew it could be an easy win if we played our game.”
Democracy Prep led 19-8 after the first quarter and extended the lead to 31-14 at halftime. Centennial star Nation Williams, a five-star junior, finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds but was held in check by Democracy Prep’s defense. The Blue Knights opened the third quarter with a 16-0 run to push the lead to 49-18, and the game went to a running clock late in the fourth.
“We didn’t want to pick up early fouls, so we started Serenity on (Williams), but the game play was always Avery,” Barren said. “(Freeman’s) a strong guard and she’s athletic. She can get up and contest some of those entry feeds. We prepared her all week to be physical.”
Ocampo, a first-year player for Democracy Prep, said the team was motivated by last year’s state title loss. “It’s my first year here, but I know the history with Centennial,” Ocampo said. “Last year they lost to them in state, but it was a good game to gain our momentum back.”
Democracy Prep has dealt with adversity this season, losing UNLV commit Keonni Lewis to a torn ACL and being forced to play home games at Doolittle Community Center after their gym flooded. “We’ve gone through a lot of adversity this season,” Ocampo said. “It’s definitely built our character in a short amount of time.”
