Centennial girls look to reclaim 5A title with ‘brand new team’

This year’s Centennial girls basketball team looks much different from the one that lost in the Class 5A state championship game to Bishop Gorman last season, snapping the Bulldogs’ run of eight straight titles.

Still, despite only having one returning contributor, Centennial was undefeated in league play and earned the No. 1 seed in this year’s state tournament thanks to a strong group of freshmen and sophomores.

The Bulldogs (22-2) will get a chance to reclaim their place as the state’s top girls basketball team when they face No. 2 Democracy Prep (23-3) for the 5A crown at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Cox Pavilion.

“We are super young and inexperienced; this is pretty much a brand new team,” Centennial coach Karen Weitz said. “Nation (Williams) is my only returner with experience. The other kids that are playing either transferred or were role players (last year). Ayla (Williams) was out all last year with an injury, so the fact that we are where we are right now with this team is pretty impressive.”

Weitz, the winningest high school basketball coach in Nevada history with 788 victories (756 with the girls team and 32 with the Bulldogs’ boys team), could accomplish another milestone Friday. She could win her 15th state title, breaking her tie with Pahranagat Valley’s Amy Huntsman for the most ever.

“We’ve come a long way from December where we had to tighten up our team, kind of shorten up our roster a little bit to find the girls that we felt like really wanted to buy in,” Weitz said. “We got a good core right now. They’re really gelling and coming together and peaking at the right time.”

‘More confidence’

Much of Centennial’s success starts with Nation Williams. The standout sophomore forward scored a team-high 18 points in the Bulldogs’ 68-21 semifinal win over Faith Lutheran on Wednesday.

“I feel like I’ve gained more confidence,” Nation Williams said. “I’m more in that leadership role than as a freshman last year and evolving from the inside out with more outside shots.”

But Nation Williams, daughter of Hall of Famer Natalie Williams, isn’t just a matchup nightmare inside for 5A opponents. Nation Williams said developing an outside shot and becoming a ball handler have been focuses for her.

It was evident Wednesday when she brought the ball up the floor to help ignite Centennial’s transition offense. She recorded three assists, eight rebounds and three blocks in the win.

“You can use her one through five on the floor,” Weitz said. “Physicality-wise, if we’re struggling to bring the ball up, Nation’s not afraid to step right in and help. Nation’s got good ball handling and passing skills. She’s not just a big person that can stand under the basket. She can go on the perimeter and be a ball handler for us.”

Nation plays alongside her sister Ayla Williams, a senior and University of San Diego commit. Weitz said the sisters embody a lot of the same skills that made their mother a great player.

“You don’t have to coach effort and leadership with either one of those kids,” Weitz said. “They come in, they play hard every day and sometimes that isn’t the easiest thing to do, but they’re just so physical and I’m glad you still have kids that are that way.”

Nation Williams is a four-star recruit and holds over 20 Division I offers from top programs like UCLA, South Carolina, Notre Dame, Tennessee and others.

Right now, Nation Williams is focused more on playing one final high school game with her sister.

“This is our last game together on Friday, so I’m really excited,” Nation Williams said. “I hope we can get the (win) and I just really want to see her succeed and I really want to do it for her.”

5A competition

Democracy Prep and Centennial have played two thrilling games in their brief history as 5A rivals. Democracy Prep defeated Centennial 50-46 last year, handing the Bulldogs their first loss to a Nevada team since 2015.

Centennial bounced back this year and won 59-56 at Democracy Prep on Feb. 1. Friday’s game should be another close contest.

“It’s going to be a great game,” Weitz said. “When we played them the first time (this season), it was anybody’s ball game down the stretch. We know that we got to come prepared, and it’s going to be two physical teams. We hope that it’s a great game and we respect them and hope that we can come out with a win.”

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.