Desert Pines’ boys basketball team forfeits games

Desert Pines’ boys were set to run onto their home floor to open the Sunrise Region basketball playoffs tonight. Instead, because the of use of an ineligible player, the Jaguars will be boarding a bus and opening the playoffs at Silverado on Wednesday.

The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association delayed the start of the Sunrise Region playoffs to Wednesday and switched the quarterfinal matchups in the Sunrise Region today after Desert Pines forfeited three games because of the infraction.

On Friday, Desert Pines began an investigation into the use of an ineligible player in games against Canyon Springs on Dec. 15, Chaparral on Jan. 6 and Las Vegas on Jan. 8.

The investigation resulted in the Jaguars forfeiting those games, changing Desert Pines’ record to 8-4 and dropping the team out of first place in the Northeast League and into a tie for third place with Las Vegas.

Eldorado also forfeited a game against Valley on Feb. 6 because of the use of an ineligible player.

Eldorado, at 9-3, is now the league champion, followed by Canyon Springs (8-3).

Desert Pines was set to host Coronado in a region quarterfinal game Tuesday night. Instead, the Jaguars will head to Silverado, which tied Foothill for first place in the Southeast League.

The Desert Pines-Silverado quarterfinal is a matchup of two teams thought by many to be a favorite to win the region. The winner of that game might end up facing Eldorado in the semifinals.

The rest of the Sunrise playoff matchups are: Las Vegas at Foothill; Liberty at Canyon Springs; and Coronado at Eldorado.

Because the matchups were switched, the NIAA will give teams an extra day to prepare for potentially a new opponent.

Canyon Springs at 8-3, finished one-half game ahead of both Desert Pines and Las Vegas. The Pioneers’ game at Rancho on Friday was canceled, resulting in the unbalanced league finish.

Even if the game were to be played and Canyon Springs were to lose, the Pioneers would still win a three-team tie-breaker with Desert Pines and Las Vegas on point differential in head-to-head games and would earn the No. 2 seed and a home quarterfinal game.

And if Canyon Springs were to win if the game were made up, it would tie Eldorado at 9-3, but Eldorado would win that tiebreaker on beaten opponents points and still earn the No. 1 seed. So the Canyon Springs-Rancho game is in effect, meaningless and will not be played.

Desert Pines wins a tie-breaker over Las Vegas on beaten opponents points to earn the No. 3 seed.