Coin toss needed to finalize tennis postseason pairings

Sometime Friday morning, a picture of one of our former presidents will help finalize the Sunrise Region boys tennis tournament pairings.

The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association will hold a coin flip Friday to determine the final two seeds in the Northeast League as Rancho and Chaparral tied for third at 5-2-1, beating the same teams and tying each other.

NIAA rules dictate a coin flip to determine which team wins the tiebreaker and which team heads to undefeated Coronado to begin postseason play.

Playoff pairings are merely awaiting final confirmation from the NIAA, and that will happen after the coin toss takes place.

The girls region quarterfinals in both the Sunrise and Sunset regions are scheduled for Monday at host sites. Semifinals are Wednesday at host sites, and the finals are set for Oct. 9 at Darling Tennis Center.

Boys region quarterfinals are Tuesday at host sites. The semifinals will be played Oct. 8 at host sites with the finals also scheduled for Oct. 9 at Darling Tennis Center.

Here are the expected seeds for boys and girls in both the Sunrise and Sunset Region. These are unofficial until otherwise declared by the NIAA.

BOYS

In the Sunrise Region, Eldorado is the Northeast’s top seed after finishing 8-0 in league play.

Las Vegas (7-1) is the No. 2 seed, with the Rancho-Chaparral coin toss winner taking the No. 3 spot and the loser occupying the No. 4 slot.

The Southeast League completed play Wednesday with Coronado (8-0), Foothill (7-1), Liberty (6-2) and Green Valley (5-3) claiming the league’s playoff seeds.

The quarterfinal matchups are: Green Valley at Eldorado; the Rancho-Chaparral toss winner at Foothill; Liberty at Las Vegas; and the Rancho-Chaparral toss loser at Coronado.

The winners at Eldorado and Foothill will meet in one semifinal. The other semifinal will pit the Las Vegas site winner against the Coronado site winner.

In the Sunset Region, Bonanza, Clark and Bishop Gorman sent plenty of people scrambling to find rules to break a three-way tie after all three teams finished 7-1 in the Southwest League and split head-to-head meetings.

Gorman gets the nod as a result of scoring the most points (20) in the head-to-head matchups against Clark and Bonanza, so Gorman is the No. 1 seed.

Clark beat Bonanza in their regular-season meeting, giving Clark the No. 2 seed and sending Bonanza on the road for the playoffs.
Durango (5-3) is the No. 4 seed.

The Northwest’s finish was much more tidy with Palo Verde (9-0), Centennial (8-1), The Meadows (7-2) and Cimarron-Memorial (6-3) falling into line.

The Sunset quarterfinals are: Cimarron at Gorman; Bonanza at Centennial; The Meadows at Clark; and Durango at Palo Verde.

The winners at Gorman and Centennial meet in one semifinal; the winners at Clark and Palo Verde face off in the other.

GIRLS

Bishop Gorman’s bid for a fifth-straight state title begins with the Gaels (8-0) claiming the Southwest League’s No. 1 seed in the Sunset playoffs. Gorman was never seriously tested in league play, winning each match by at least 10 points.

Durango (7-1) is the No. 2 seed, followed by Clark (6-2) and Spring Valley (5-3), which beat Desert Oasis on Thursday to get into the field.

The Meadows (9-0) won the Northwest League and earned a No. 1 seed. Palo Verde (8-1) is No. 2, with Centennial (6-3) and Shadow Ridge (6-3) taking the final two spots.

Centennial, Shadow Ridge and Faith Lutheran finished in a three-way tie for third in the Northwest with the teams splitting head-to-head meetings.

Centennial won the tie-breaker, in large part due to its 14-4 win over Shadow Ridge on Thursday. The Bulldogs had the most points (22) in the head-to-head meetings.

Shadow Ridge, which beat Faith Lutheran, grabbed the No. 4 seed.

Sunset quarterfinal matchups are: Spring Valley at The Meadows; Centennial at Durango; Clark at Palo Verde; and Shadow Ridge at Gorman. The Durango match will likely be held at Sierra Vista because Durango doesn’t have usable home courts.

The winners of the matches at The Meadows and wherever Durango chooses to play its quarterfinal will meet in one semifinal. The winners at Palo Verde and Gorman meet in the other.

In the Sunrise Region, Liberty’s undefeated regular-season allowed the Patriots (8-0) to claim their first No. 1 seed in the Southeast League. Coronado (7-1), Silverado (6-2) and Green Valley (5-3) took the other three spots.

Canyon Springs (8-0) cruised to the Northeast title and a No. 1 seed. Las Vegas (7-1), which beat Valley (6-2) on Thursday, took the No. 2 seed, leaving the Vikings at No. 3. Eldorado’s win over Rancho on Thursday lifted the Sundevils (5-3) into the No. 4 spot.

The Sunrise quarterfinals are: Eldorado at Liberty; Silverado at Las Vegas; Valley at Coronado; and Green Valley at Canyon Springs.

The winners at Liberty and Las Vegas meet in one semifinal. The other semifinal pits the Coronado winner against the Canyon Springs winner.