Several basketball tourneys set to start today, Saturday

Holiday tournament season continues today with the start of three boys basketball tournaments.

The biggest is the 32-team Las Vegas Prep Championships, to be played at Las Vegas High and Valley. Play begins at 3 p.m. today. The tournament includes 13 local teams.

The Amare Stoudemire Each 1 Teach 1 National Invitational Tournament at Durango also begins today. The 16-team tournament, which features seven local teams, tips off at 4 p.m.

Also starting today is the 16-team Vegas Invitational at Mountain View. The tournament starts at 9:30 a.m. and features 10 Southern Nevada schools.

Two more tournaments start Saturday. The Rock Holiday Classic at Henderson International starts at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Though the tournament features only eight teams, it might have the highest-profile competition, led by Findlay Prep, which is ranked No. 2 in the nation by USA Today.

Henderson International and Lake Mead are the other two local teams in the tournament.

And the Las Vegas Holiday Classic girls tournament starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Centennial. Two games also will be at Escobedo Middle School, beginning at 12:30 p.m. The 21-team tournament features nine local schools.

The National Invitational ends Monday, with the other four tournaments continuing through Tuesday.

• GATORADE AWARD -- Durango's Hayley Spelman was named the Gatorade Nevada Volleyball Player of the Year.

Spelman, a 6-foot-6-inch opposite hitter, helped the Trailblazers reach the Class 4A state semifinals this fall.

She had 197 service aces and twice recorded 44 kills in a match this season.

Spelman has signed to play at Stanford.