Faith Lutheran boys basketball coach Bret Walter was 361-253 and won five state titles in 23 seasons. The Crusaders begin play in the 4A Mountain Region playoffs Wednesday.
mc-nevada preps
The Bishop Gorman boys and Centennial girls are clear favorites once again, but there are some sleepers that could do some damage in the postseason.
Julian Strawther scored 14 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter to spark Liberty to a 71-66 victory over Coronado, which won the league title on the tiebreaker.
Arbor View’s Israel Mann and Rickey Jones, Legacy’s Lee Wilson and BJ Phillips, and Bishop Gorman’s Mark Person and James Petrie will play at Southwest Minnesota State.
Here are the preps athletes who signed for national signing day on Wednesday or during the fall.
Faith Lutheran was 53-28 in Vernon Fox’s seven years at the helm, including a 12-2 record and Class 3A state championship in 2013. He resigned as coach Tuesday.
Daishen Nix, a 6-foot-5-inch senior point guard, is one of 24 boys basketball players who will play in the McDonald’s All-American game April 1 in Houston.
Braggs punished Durango by converting 8 of 15 field goals — including 5 of 9 from 3-point range — and keyed the Gaels to a Southwest League victory.
The Gaels welcomed new rival Coronado to the showcase by overcoming an early double-figure deficit at Cox Pavilion and scoring a nationally televised 70-62 victory.
Junior guard Jaden Hardy is averaging 34.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 9.4 assists for Coronado, which plays Bishop Gorman on Friday in the Big City Showdown.
Plenty of league titles and playoff seedings hang in the balance, and several games will determine how teams line up entering the postseason.
Bentleigh Hoskins made a short jumper in the lane with four seconds left as Bishop Gorman edged Spring Valley 53-52 to keep its Southwest League title hopes alive.
The NIAA Board of Control has approved the alignment and playoff formats under which schools will play for the next two school years for fall sports.
Boulder City junior Ethan Speaker, a 6-foot-6-inch wing, is averaging 24.7 points and 10.2 rebounds and has caught the attention of Division I basketball coaches.
Liberty’s Julian Strawther scored 25 points in Friday’s 79-52 win over Tech, and a 3-pointer in the first quarter put him over the 2,000-point mark.