First, I apologize for not giving any coverage of this year’s regional tournament games played in Las Vegas. A nagging sore-throat and cold hampered my motivation the past two weeks.

So Long

Second, this is going to be it for me with the traveling around covering games.

I am on track to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in journalism this summer. In the fall, I’ll start a graduate program in secondary education. The goal is to be certified to teach high school English and journalism by fall of ‘09. At that point, we’ll decide what career path to take, which really all depends on what opportunities are out there. I’ve learned – gratefully at this early stage – not to put all your hopes in one basket. Future circumstances are often not what you envision they’ll be.

That’s not really a bad thing. NevadaPrep and this blog are a fine example of that.

I e-mailed Herb Hall last June and offered the new NevadaPrep owner my help. I expected he’d ask me to write a column or two and maybe cover playoff games in Southern Nevada. Instead, he enlisted me to write season previews for the Southern 1A, 2A and 3A football and volleyball teams and cover a game each weekend during the fall sports season.

At that time, I was being considered for an internship with the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s city desk. Instead, I found a unique opportunity to travel around the state of Nevada and reacquaint myself with the world of high school sports. I gained that elusive attribute called experience, and I did so working in rural Nevada – an environment that I’ve grown to love since I entered its wide-open spaces almost ten years ago.

I also gained experience in the ever-expanding world of online journalism thanks to Charlotte-Anne Lucas and her “Forms of Journal Writing” class. When I signed up for it, I didn’t know what the class would do, other than give me three more credits toward the cap and gown. To my delight, Charlotte-Anne facilitated (and is continuing to facilitate) a journalistic laboratory where we can figure out the technology that is changing the way the world gives and receives information.

My work with NevadaPrep also allowed me to fulfill other class assignments and earn internship credit. In other words – I milked it for all it was worth! It even led to a front-page feature in the Las Vegas Sun. That article, by the way, stemmed from Charlotte-Anne’s quick-to-talk-up-her-students trait.

So Thanks

I tell you all that not to brag about what a sweet gig I landed, though it was pretty sweet. I say it so I can publicly thank Herb for the opportunity to be involved with NevadaPrep and for Charlotte-Anne, Mary Hausch and others at the UNLV whose classes made it possible for me to put as much time into this as I did.

Most importantly, thanks to the readers – you supporters of Nevada’s high schools. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed the additional coverage. And hopefully you realize the possibilities Internet technology brings to share information about your schools and communities.

So Do It

I’m not taking the blog down.  You’re welcome to scroll though and check out the stuff I did.  You’re also welcome to submit your own stories, picutres and video.

Whatever game I went to, I noticed a lot of people with cameras and camcorders catching the footage of Nevada, high school sports.  I’m putting this on Nevada communities now.  You can continue what I started here by sharing.  Otherwise this thing will just collect cyber-dust. 

Simply e-mail me your stories – elderbrowley@yahoo.com - or write them in the comments section.

You can post pictures on Flickr.  I created a Flickr group solely dedicated to pictures of Nevada high school sports.  Join the group and add whatever pictures you have.

You can upload video on YouTube.  Just let me know it’s there so I can put the footage on the blog.

If you have other ideas on making this blog better, just let me know.

Starting with the boys… (I know, I forgto the “r” in “February”)

We’re off to Pahrump tomorrow to watch the Trojans host the Pirates in the final week of regular season play.

Updates, game coverage and postgame thoughts and videos are coming your way.

See you there!

This beauty was posted on the Reno Gazette Journal prep site this morning.  My commentary on this will come soon, but in the meantime, I welcome yours.  Post on their blog or mine, or both!

Update: My Commentary

When I played high school basketball I remember seeing my name in the “big” paper after a regional tournament.

The clip was two, maybe three sentences long.  It gave the score and said I had 17 points.

A week later after a state tournament game I read a column by Chuck Hildebrand about our team.  It was at least 1,000 words, and though I only scored 3 points that game, my name was still mentioned for handling the ball well against tough defensive pressure.

I enjoyed reading about my 3-point performance on NevadaPrep much more than the two sentences on my 17-point game.

NevadaPrep has run circles around the “big” papers with its coverage of high school sports for the past decade.  Hundreds, if not thousands, of athletes, their families, and communities have enjoyed seeing detailed stories about their teams.

Herb Hall has continued that tradition, taking the baton and running those circles around the competition.  To try and shame him for figuring out how to make this service financially stable, so it can continue, is ridiculous.

Chris Gabel does make a valid point that accepting a donation from a school and then reporting on that school looks improper, though I guarantee it wouldn’t change the way Hall or I would report on games.  But it’s outrageous to suggest that Hall is out to suck money from schools and communities for his own financial gain.

In a perfect world, local businesses would step up and sponsor NevadaPrep’s efforts – not schools or individuals.  That’s what Hall is after.  Just like the RGJ has ads on its pages from Nevada businesses, NevadaPrep is seeking for the same.  That’s how you pay the bills in the media world.

The fact that schools and individuals have sent money NevadaPrep’s way is a testament to how valuable the site is for Nevada communities.  The fact that NevadaPrep has for so long given unparalleled coverage to Nevada schools, without enough financial support, is a testament to the operators’ commitment to Nevada communities.

I have been contacting businesses around Southern Nevada in search of advertisers.  Here’s a basic flyer, and here’s a list of ad space available on NevadaPrep.

All Nevada businesses should consider supporting a publication that gives their local schools 1,000 words of detailed coverage. 

Unless they’re satisfied with the uninterested and uninteresting, two-sentence clips…

We watched two entertaining games on Friday the 18th at Faith Lutheran, where the Crusaders hosted the Virgin Valley Bulldogs.  The girls game was a low-scoring affair and the boys game was a blowout, but I enjoyed both.  Here’s why. 

• I was impressed with how the Faith Lutheran girls fought back, fought back, and then fought back against an impressive Virgin Valley team.  Their leading scorer, Meghann Smith, took a shot to the forehead but changed her bloody jersey at halftime and didn’t miss a beat in the second half.  Their point guard went down with an ankle sprain, but limped back on the court and battled in the fourth quarter.  Two starters fouled out, but the Crusaders still managed to pull within three before the Bulldogs pulled away. 

• The residents of Mesquite should be very pleased to have the Morris family in town.  Freshmen Rachel Morris had 11 blocks and two key ones at the end of the game for the Lady Bulldogs.  MesquiteLocal reported after the game she’s 35 away from the Southern 3A record of 147.  We also hear her older brother, junior Anthony Morris, is doing pretty darn well controlling the paint for the Virgin Valley boys.  He has 95 blocked shots so far, according to MaxPreps.com.

• But Morris and his Bulldogs were no match for a finely tuned Faith Lutheran team.  The Crusaders have a very skilled, very athletic and very balanced group.  They also have a coach who isn’t easily pleased.  Instead of praising a blowout win, coach Bret Walter pointed toward things he feels the team must work on moving forward, such as not becoming complacent, even with a 20-point lead.

• That’s a lesson for all of you who are trying to improve your games.  Never be satisfied.  Always look for things that you can work on, because there always are.

Other Tidbits

• Faith Lutheran has an excellent pep band.

• A large group of Virgin Valley faithful made the hour trip to the game.  Green shirts in attendance rivaled the amount of home-team supporters.

• Virgin Valley head coach Kirk Brotherson has coached in Mesquite since 1970.  Mesquite has grown a lot since then.  However, Mesquite “the city” still feels like Mesquite “the dusty little town” in some ways.  “I think I have seven kids that I coached their parents,” Brotherson said.  “Even though Mesquite’s grown a ton, it’s still the same people getting the job done.”

• Bulldog guard Courtney Spawn has got game.  She had 20 points on Friday, which is close to her average.  She does a lot of her damage with the three but also has the handles to get buckets in the paint or get to the foul line.

• Crusader forward Diontea Wright also has game.  The senior can jump out of the gym.  He put down a baseline alleyoop slam on the Bulldogs.  He’s got nice range on his jumper as well.  He also plays smart and stays within the system.  

Here is the promised footage starting with the girls contest.

Footage from the Virgin Valley at Faith Lutheran contests will come later this week, along with some observations.

elderbrowley@yahoo.com

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No time to write, but just want to let you know we’ll be at Faith Lutheran tonight watching key girls and boys Southern 3A matchups.

Updates will come as usual.  I’ll put up video footage from last week and this week soon.

elderbrowley@yahoo.com

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I’ve been a little leery of the new gym in Alamo, Nevada until now. 

Sure it’s pretty.  Sure it has a lot more sitting room.  Sure it comes with padded chairs for the players.  Sure the locker rooms are nicer - toilets don’t clog as easily and shower-floor fungus isn’t strong enough to eat through your flip-flops … yet.

But that old gym was loud.  Intimidating.  In the fourth quarter of a close game, you could hear nothing but the crowd.  When you went to bed after a game, the ringing in your ears would keep you awake.  It was awesome.

I didn’t get that sense at the new gym until this Friday, when Alamo hosted Mountain View Christian.

In the boys JV game, Dustin Poulsen hit two free throws with just seconds left in overtime to seal a victory for the Panthers.  Loud.

In the girls varsity game, two techs were called on MVCS.  Loud.

In the boys varsity game, Brandon Carr of MVCS made the go-ahead bucket with 10 seconds left.  Very loud. 

And when there was 0.4 seconds left and the game was all but over, both the home and visiting crowds chanted their team names at the top of their lungs.  As I wrote the stories in the quiet of the Hansen living room that night, I noticed a slight ringing in the ears.

I smiled.

Other tidbits:

• Teams played games the following day.  Alamo girls and boys took care of Trinity at home.  MVCS hosted Lake Mead.  The girls game wasn’t reported to NevadaPrep, but I’m guessing MVCS won, since from what I hear the Saints and Alamo are tops in the league.  The MVCS boys were thumped by the Eagles.  

• MVCS is moving up to 2A next year.  Though they won’t be battling the Panthers in league play, coach Ray LeBoeuf said the teams will still battle.   ”I’m still going to come here one way or the other,” he said.  “I enjoy 
  (Alamo coach) Brian (Higbee), I loved (former head coach) Mike (Strong), I enjoy (Alamo football coach) Ken (Higbee).  I’ve enjoyed the people here.  I’ve always felt welcome here.”

• LeBoeuf also discussed what his team has to do to get to Lake Mead’s level.  He said the amount of games the Eagles have played this year ”gives them that extra edge to be confident and to play hard for 32 minutes.  And that’s what those kids will do.”  He added Lake Mead just wears teams down.  “All it takes is two, three minutes and they can roll off 10, 15 points on you, and then just play even, play even, play even, then do it again, and it’s a 30-point game.  So the big thing for us is to just keep playing hard for 32 minutes, see how close we can get to matching their effort.” 

I’d like to know what the toughest, loudest, oldest, whateverest basketball venues in the state are.   Please post your comments.  I also welcome whatever else is on your mind.

elderbrowley@yahoo.com

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I slow-charged the blogging batteries in December as the Nevada winter sports world geared up for league play.  I spent that time re-learning what it is like to not write something every other day.

As hard as it was to rip myself from hibernation, I think I’m ready to write something.

The first games we’ll cover is somewhat by default.  The Corolla is acting up (she’s a little tired from the heavy rural Nevada driving), so we’re taking the car to the homeland for a tune-up. 

Meanwhile, some of the top 1A girls and boys basketball teams are playing Friday night as Pahranagat Valley hosts Mountain View. 

On the girls end, the teams have near identical records.  Both the Panthers and the Saints are 2-0 in league play, while PV is 14-3 overall to MV’s 13-4.  They’re also ranked 1 and 2 respectively in NevadaPrep’s  rankings.

 As for the boys, the Panthers are 1-1 in league play and 10-4 overall.  Mountain View is 2-0 in league but just 7-9 overall.

This weekend is a huge test for the Saints.  On Saturday the team takes on ridiculously-good Lake Mead (2-0, 18-1) at Mountain View.  The Panthers were punished by the Eagles in Alamo last week 59-36.  Somebody really has to figure out something it seems, because at this point Lake Mead is looking pretty poised to ramrod its way to the title.

We’ll be there Friday with a notepad, cellphone, and camcorder.  You’ll have your live updates, recaps on NevadaPrep, and some postgame thoughts and video footage the next day.

Charlotte Hsu of the Las Vegas Sun will follow us to Alamo to see what Southern Nevada Sports is all about and to watch me fumble around as I attempt to be a journalist.

Your thoughts on how the basketball season in any of the leagues is going so far are welcome.

elderbrowley@yahoo.com

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Below you’ll find video footage from the 2007 1A, 2A, and 3A state volleyball championships played at Silverado High School in Las Vegas.  The videos are displayed in order of classification.  Each video shows the final game of the respective championship match.

Pahranagat Valley downed Owyhee in four games.

It took five games for Whittell to defeat Needles.

And Yerington finally found a way to down Truckee, winning in four games.

elderbrowley@yahoo.com

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