Plenty of playoff possibilities to ponder as regular season winds down

The final week of the regular season actually is a trilogy this season.

Last week saw the end of the regular season for the Class 3A Southern League, which starts postseason play Thursday.

The Sunrise Region and the Class 2A and Class 1A Southern Leagues wrap up play Thursday and start their playoffs on Nov. 4.

But the Sunset Region still has two weeks left and won’t finish until Nov. 4.

Confused yet? Just wait.

Here are the playoff possibilities for the leagues that finish this week. Take these with a couple of aspirin and the caveat that nothing is official until the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association releases playoff pairings.

Northeast League

Canyon Springs (3-0) already has secured the league’s top seed, regardless of the outcome of Thursday’s game against Rancho.

The Las Vegas (2-1) at Valley (1-2) game is the one of consequence. If Las Vegas wins, Las Vegas would be the No. 2 seed, followed by Eldorado (2-2) and Valley.

If Valley wins, there would be a three-way tie for second between Eldorado, Las Vegas and Valley, and a point-differential tiebreaker would be needed. The Wildcats are plus-13, compared to Valley (minus-2) and Eldorado (minus-13), so Vegas is safe as the No. 2 seed if it loses by one to seven points. Eldorado would still be the No. 3 and Valley the No. 4.

If Valley wins by more than seven points, Valley would grab the 2 seed. In that case, Las Vegas would be the No. 3 and Eldorado the No. 4.

Rancho (0-3) has been eliminated by virtue of its loss to Valley earlier this season.

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Southeast League

Here’s where those aspirin will come in handy.

The matchups are Liberty (4-0) at Basic (3-1), Foothill (2-2) at Green Valley (1-3), and Coronado (0-4) at Silverado (2-2).

Coronado has been eliminated, but much of the rest is up for grabs.

The Liberty-Basic game determines the league’s top seed. If Basic wins, Basic will be the No. 1 seed and Liberty the No. 2. If Liberty wins, it will be the No. 1 seed and Basic’s spot will depend on the other games.

There are eight possible scenarios Thursday. We’ll list them and quickly detail what happens. For the first four, keep in mind Liberty would be the No. 1 seed.

1. Liberty, Silverado and Foothill win. Basic, Silverado and Foothill would tie at 3-2, each having beaten one of the others. The point differential tiebreaker would go to Basic, which would be the No. 2 seed, followed by Silverado and Foothill.

2. Liberty, Silverado and Green Valley win. Basic and Silverado would tie at 3-2. Basic beat Silverado and would be the No. 2, with Silverado third. Green Valley and Foothill would be 2-3, and Green Valley would have beaten Foothill to take the 4 seed.

3. Liberty, Coronado and Foothill win. Foothill and Basic would be tied at 3-2. Foothill beat Basic. Foothill second, then Basic, then Silverado.

4. Liberty, Coronado and Green Valley win. Basic would be alone in second. Foothill, Green Valley and Silverado would tie for third. Silverado beat both teams and would be the third seed, followed by Green Valley.

For the next four possibilities, keep in mind Basic would be the 1 seed and Liberty the 2.

5. Basic, Silverado and Foothill win. Silverado and Foothill would be 3-2. Silverado won head-to-head and would take the No. 3 seed, leaving Foothill with No. 4.

6. Basic, Silverado and Green Valley win. Silverado would be the third seed. Green Valley and Foothill would tie for fourth, advantage Green Valley.

7. Basic, Coronado and Foothill win. Foothill would be the No. 3 seed at 3-2. Silverado would be the No. 4 seed at 2-3.

8. Basic, Coronado and Green Valley win. Foothill, Green Valley and Silverado tie for third. As in scenario 5, Silverado would take the third and Foothill the fourth.

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Class 2A Southern League

It’s much more simple here as Lincoln County (5-0) already has wrapped up the top seed.

Needles (4-1) hosts The Meadows (4-1) on Thursday. The winner will be the No. 2 seed and the loser the No. 3, so they get to meet again next week in the playoffs.

Agassi Prep (2-3) hosts Lake Mead (2-3) on Thursday. The winner of that game will take the No. 4 seed and head to Panaca in the first week of the postseason.

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Class 1A Southern League

Pahranagat Valley (6-0), Beatty (5-1), Spring Mountain (5-1) and Tonopah (3-3) have clinched the playoff spots, and Tonopah will be the No. 4 seed.

Beatty visits Pahranagat Valley on Thursday. If the Panthers win, Pahranagat Valley will be the No. 1 seed, Spring Mountain the No. 2 and Beatty the No. 3.

If Beatty wins and Beaver Dam beats Spring Mountain, Beatty would be the No. 1 seed, Pahranagat Valley the No. 2 and Spring Mountain the No. 3.

If Beatty wins and Spring Mountain wins, there would be a three-way tie that would go to a point-differental tiebreaker. Beatty must win by at least 13 points to keep the tiebreaker alive. Otherwise, Pahranagat Valley still would be the No. 1 seed, followed by Spring Mountain and Beatty.

If Beatty wins by 13 or more, head-to-head points allowed would be the next step and Spring Mountain would win that tiebreaker to be the No. 1 seed. Beatty’s win over Pahranagat Valley would make the Hornets the No. 2 and Pahranagat Valley the No. 3.

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Follow along Thursday as results come in here at nevadapreps.com. We’ll detail a Sunset Region breakdown next week. Stay tuned.