Prep playoffs produce few surprises; Green Valley QB improves

The first week of the playoffs are in the books for Class 5A, 4A and 3A, and there weren’t many surprises.

Bishop Gorman and Liberty cruised, as expected. Thursday’s other 5A games — Foothill at Green Valley and Desert Pines at Arbor View — went down to the wire, with Foothill and Arbor View advancing.

In 4A, the home teams were 2-2, with Clark and Basic rolling, while Cimarron-Memorial dropped a home game to Sierra Vista and Desert Oasis couldn’t come back from a 21-0 deficit against Durango.

Virgin Valley and SLAM Nevada took care of business at home in 3A, with the latter claiming the first playoff win in program history.

Unfortunately, the night took a turn for the worse when Green Valley senior quarterback Josiah Kiaaina was injured in the final minute of Thursday’s game. He was taken off the field on a gurney and driven to a hospital by ambulance.

Green Valley coach Brian Castro said Friday that Kiaaina’s condition had improved.

“He’s doing well; he’s got movement back in all of his extremities,” Castro said. “They diagnosed it as a spinal contusion.”

Castro said he spoke to Kiaaina and his mother, “and it sounds like they are just waiting to get sent home” from the hospital.

“They’re finishing up a few more tests, and they’ve already taken the neck brace off him, so he’s doing well,” Castro said.

Kiaaina was injured when he was tackled crossing the sideline near the Green Valley bench. Castro said he did not see what happened.

“I guess there’s video somewhere, but I haven’t seen it,” he said. “There was a collision on the sideline, and from what I understand, it was kind of a routine deal. There was definitely head contact on both sides. I just feel that whatever the angle his head was in, or his neck, was kind of the issue.”

Castro said the loss was insignificant after Kiaaina was injured.

“Scary deal for sure,” he said. “It does put everything into perspective whether it’s our guy or another guy. These are kids playing a game, and you never what to see that happen.”

Game of the night

Can Arbor View and Desert Pines play every week? It seems as if every time they meet, it’s an absolute classic that isn’t decided until the final minutes.

That was the case Thursday, when Arbor View took a 17-7 lead, but had to come up with a fourth-down stop at its 3-yard line and another after a safety made it a one-point game. The Aggies escaped with a 17-16 home win.

It’s the second time Arbor View defeated Desert Pines by one point. The Jaguars had a 21-7 halftime lead before the Aggies rallied for a 22-21 victory Sept. 17.

Look-ahead

The 5A Southern Region semifinals are set for Friday, with Foothill traveling to Gorman and Liberty hosting Arbor View. The Gaels and Patriots easily won the regular-season matchups.

In 4A and 3A, the top seeds will come off their bye weeks to host games Friday. In 4A, it will be Sierra Vista at Las Vegas, Durango at Shadow Ridge, Clark at Silverado and Basic at Coronado. In 3A, Moapa Valley hosts SLAM Nevada, and Pahrump Valley hosts Virgin Valley.

The 2A and 1A playoffs will begin next week. The Meadows is the No. 1 seed from the 2A Southern Region, and Yerington tops the Northern Region.

In 1A, the four league champions are Pahranagat Valley (Central), Spring Mountain (South), Eureka (East) and Virginia City (West).

Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.