PREP BASKETBALL: A dominant force

Palo Verde squad keeps it simple -- stay healthy, be happy and keep winning

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"Just be healthy and be happy."

That is the simple mantra of Palo Verde boys basketball coach Paul Aznarez heading into the homestretch of the high school basketball season.

After losing to Bishop Gorman, 57-45, in last year's Class 4A state championship game on Feb. 26 at The Orleans Arena, Aznarez's Panthers went 11 months without suffering a loss before getting a reminder at Centennial (65-68) on Jan. 25 just how tough it can be playing in the Sunset Region's Northwest Division.

The Bulldogs blemished Palo Verde's (22-1, 6-1 Northwest) perfect record and snapped its 22-game winning streak. The Panthers were the last team -- boys or girls -- to suffer a loss in Nevada this season.

Despite the setback, the Panthers still are seen by most as the team to beat in the city and state this year after winning the San Diego Tournament, the Las Vegas Prep Championship Tournament, beating a top-ranked team from Canada -- Toronto's Eastern Commerce Collegiate Institute, 79-62 -- and outscoring its opponents by an average of more than 20 points per game in their first 22 contests.

Ranked No. 1 in the city by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, No. 1 in the state by both MaxPreps.com and the Pahrump Valley Times and ranked No. 4 in the Southwest and No. 22 in the nation by the National Prep Poll put out by Associated Press, Palo Verde, 74-15 over the last three seasons, certainly won't sneak up on anyone.

Aznarez was thrilled with the way his veteran, tall team was playing.

"The kids have just done a tremendous job so far," he said. "We don't talk that much about winning and losing. We talk about just being healthy and happy."

Palo Verde, which won its only state basketball championship two years ago under the direction of the late Phil Clarke, is undeniably driven by the memory of its loss to Gorman in last year's finals as well as the reality that this group of players would just love to win it all for Clarke, who died of non-Hodgkins lymphoma at age 53 on Dec. 29, 2004.

The school held a ceremony before the Panthers' home opener against Las Vegas on Dec. 2 and dedicated Clarke Court to the memory of the only coach the program had known before Aznarez in its nine-year history.

With two of the best players in Nevada in its starting lineup in seniors P'Allen Stinnett and Nate Schulte, Palo Verde boasts one of the most solid rosters Las Vegas has seen in years.

Aznarez said Stinnett was not playing at 100 percent in last year's state title tilt.

"P had a setback last year when he got meningitis. He was real sick," Aznarez said. "But he's come back stronger this year and he has had some unbelievable games. And as far as getting off the ground, I haven't seen a kid jump like him in years."

Stinnett, who was No. 4 in the city in scoring (20.8 points per game) and was named MVP of the Las Vegas Prep Championship, signed a letter of intent to attend Iowa State University next year, where he will play for the Cyclones in the Big 12 conference.

Aznarez gave credit to Iowa State for recruiting the 6-4 Stinnett, a first-team, all-Sunset Region selection last year.

"I thought that was just great," he said. "You look at all the talented teams in that league -- Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Missouri, Nebraska -- I think it's just a great fit for him. That league is very physical and he should improve a lot as a player."

Schulte, the 2004 Sunset Region MVP who transferred to Brewster Academy in New Hampshire last season before returning to Palo Verde before the holiday break, also is tearing it up on the hardwood this season and was sixth in Las Vegas in both scoring (20.0 ppg) and rebounding (9.7 rpg).

Aznarez was happy to have the talented Schulte (6-5) back in the fold for an entire season.

"Nate's probably playing his most consistent basketball right now," Aznarez said. "He's scoring, defending, rebounding and he's also doing a lot of the things that don't show up in the stats. He's relentless. He's a battler."

Whereas Stinnett and Schulte get most of the attention at Palo Verde, Aznarez was quick to point out the play of the other starters for his team, who will be pivotal down the stretch if the Panthers are to win their second state title in the last three years.

"P and Nate get a lot of attention but those three guys -- Lucas Gums, Tyler Lay and Sean Green -- have all done a great job this year," Aznarez said. "And we have a real nice junior who is producing in Reese Gneiting."

With senior guard Gums (4.6 assists per game) leading the team in assists, junior guard Green (6-0) helping man the backcourt with Stinnett and Gums and seniors Lay (6-6) and Schulte pounding the boards, Palo Verde provides a tough matchup for every team in town.

But the talent and size doesn't end with the starters. Every one of the players on the Panthers' 15-man roster is at least six feet tall and Aznarez has nine players on his team who are at least 6-3.

Seniors Zach Fowle (6-7) and Anthony Perez (6-0) and juniors Gneiting (6-7), Michael Loyd (6-1), Jarren Shelton (6-0), Mike Nawrot (6-4), Spencer Haire (6-6), Jared Gilman (6-0), J.B. Marek (6-3) and Nick Bigler (6-3) give Aznarez plenty of options on his long bench, as well as the ability to effectively rotate players in and out to wear down opponents. This tactic was evident in Palo Verde's 83-54 win at Cheyenne on Jan. 20, where all 15 players played and all but three put their names in the scoring column.

"There's no doubt we're blessed with talent," Aznarez said of his battle-tested team.

With the team's 6-1 record to start out play in the Sunset Region's Northwest Division, one might think that the league is a little light. In reality, the division has probably never been tougher.

"It's the same thing every year," Aznarez said of the tough schedule in the Northwest Division. "I know I may be a bit prejudiced, but our conference is year in and year out the toughest. Look at Centennial, Cheyenne, Cimarron, Mojave, Shadow Ridge ... it seems like it's the best overall competition. And it's not just in basketball."

Proving Aznarez's point were the rankings and records of the other teams in the division, not counting first-year school Arbor View.

Centennial (No. 7 in the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Jan. 26 rankings with a 19-7 record), Cimarron-Memorial (17-8), Mojave (14-7), Cheyenne (8-9) and Shadow Ridge (11-13) all are posting respectable campaigns this season, and all face the reality of having to fight for the three playoff spots still up for grabs heading into the last weeks of the regular season. All five teams have at least two divisional losses.

Under this year's playoff format, only one team from the division -- the winner of the Feb. 17 Sunset Region championship game at Sierra Vista High School -- will advance to the state championship round to be held Feb. 23-24 at Lawlor Events Center on the campus of the University of Nevada. That means that Palo Verde, No. 2 Gorman (17-4) or another team from the Sunset Division will have to wonder what could have been on the morning of Feb. 18.

"The way the format is this year, you can't really project who you might play," Aznarez said. "You fear everybody. We just have to stay healthy and happy and worry about what we're doing and not worry about anyone else."

Last year the regional semifinal losers competed in a play-in game in which Palo Verde topped Valley to qualify for state.

The Panthers' coach believes his team is up for the challenge this season, motivated by on-court and off-court memories of last year.

"Our team seems to have a big game mentality this year," Aznarez said. "They kind of smell blood."

When asked if his team talks about that loss to Gorman at state last year -- a game in which the Panthers shot 32.7 percent from the field and committed 19 turnovers -- Aznarez got back to his mantra.

"They say things (about losing at state last year) from time to time. I'm sure it's in the back of a lot of their minds," he said. "We just talk about trying to do things right and being happy and healthy."

Palo Verde will try to keep the momentum going today at 6:30 p.m. when it hosts Cheyenne, then wraps up the regular season on Thursday when it hosts Shadow Ridge at 6:30 p.m.

The postseason tips off Feb. 14 for Palo Verde when it hosts its Sunset regional opener.