Tourney building its own identity

     By W.G. Ramirez
     View staff writer
      OK, so maybe the nation's elite basketball programs aren't still around, maybe there isn't a swarm of college recruiters inside every gym, and maybe there isn't a media rush and a lack of space on press row.
      But make no bones about it, the Las Vegas Prep Championship boys basketball tournament is just as classy as the Reebok Holiday Prep Classic.
      "We're the other tournament, that's for sure," said Tom Farnsworth, coach of Las Vegas High and tournament director for the Prep Championship. "The difference between us and the Holiday Prep is it's possible to play your two or three best games of the year and still lose because of the caliber of teams.
      "If you come to our tournament and play well, you're probably going to win games."
      As far as Farnsworth is concerned, there is no competition between the two tourneys because they both serve a purpose during a two-week time frame.
      "We look at it more of identifying the city as well," Farnsworth said. "Being we're Las Vegas High School, it helps to have that identification."
      Farnsworth began the tournament four years ago, when he arrived at Las Vegas from Eldorado High.
      Looking at his Wildcats' 1995 schedule, Farnsworth realized with only three games scheduled for the month of December, a change was in order. So he scrambled quickly and ended up with a six-team format that included three local and three out-of-state teams.
      Given his success with the Sundevil Classic he founded in 1978 at Eldorado, Farnsworth had no problem turning his project into a success. The following year he ended up with 16 teams, and the past two years 32 teams have taken part in the event.
      "I think you get better experience in a tournament like this," said Paul Aznarez, coach of defending state champion Valley. "You'll have a chance to play with teams rather than against them. They're a lot more close to your talent level."
      Aznarez said he feels a bit more comfortable in entering his Vikings in the Las Vegas Prep Championship because he knows they will be facing true competition he might see during the regular season, rather than highly talented teams his squad may not have a chance at competing against.
      "It's a little bit more like a high school basketball tournament," Aznarez said. "It's not a showcase of talent like the Holiday Prep is, and that's not to sound derogatory, it's just a different element with this tournament."
      Not only is the competition comparable to some of the state's best talent -- and even better -- Durango coach Al LaRocque said unlike the Holiday Prep, local teams have a decent shot at winning the tourney title.
      "We've been around the country in our short period of existence, and a lot of tournaments aren't run that well, but Tom does a first-class job," said LaRocque, whose Trailblazers captured the championship in 1997. "The other thing is, like last year for us, this is a winnable tournament for high school teams. It's fun to play and compete against the teams that get into the Holiday Prep Classic, but it's not necessarily a winnable tournament.
      "The best thing about the Las Vegas Prep Championship is the competition is real good. You're competing at the level we compete at within the Sunset Division."
      Farnsworth said this year's crop of teams was the best field thus far. Of the 32 teams, 19 were from out-of-state.
      "We have not had to recruit teams the last two years," Farnsworth said. "We recruited the first two years and then after that it was more word of mouth and we had teams calling us. That was the main reason we expanded to 32."
      In fact, Farnsworth found himself turning teams down this year because he did not have enough facilities to host a bigger tourney.
      "If we were to add teams right now we'd need another site with two gyms," he said. "It's something we're considering for next year, if we can find another school that would be interested. Another criteria for expanding would be if we could get another sponsor."
      Farnsworth and the Prep Championship lost Converse as a major sponsor this year, but has received tremendous support from Jostens, Coca-Cola, Powerade, Turf Sporting Goods, Ocean Spray, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and Alltel Communications.
      With a major sponsor stepping up to help promote the Prep Championship, Farnsworth believes his tournament can be as big regionally as the Holiday Prep Classic is nationally.
      Farnsworth also said his tournament is a frequent recipient of referrals from Holiday Prep Classic Executive Director Larry McKay, who will send teams to the Las Vegas Prep Championship if for some reason they can't enter the Holiday Prep.
      "It's a good competitive tournament, Tom does a good job with it," said McKay, athletics director for the Clark County School District. "There are some teams that can't come before Christmas because of school, so if they want to still come to a good tournament, it's easy to recommend this one."
      n TOURNEY WRAP-UP -- As for the local entries in this year's tournament, which concluded Dec. 30, Las Vegas backed into the championship game after Eastlake (Redmond, Wash.) reached its limit for extra games outside of league play and had to drop out of the tournament following its 64-46 semifinal win over Farnsworth's Wildcats.
      Las Vegas, which finished 3-2 in the tournament, took second place after losing 58-56 to Pacifica (Garden Grove, Calif.); Eldorado also finished the event with a 3-2 record, but took fourth place after falling to Phoenix's Shadow Mountain, 94-69, in the third-place game; Durango went 3-2 as well and took sixth place after losing 53-32 to Newport Harbor (Calif.) in the fifth-place game; Clark, which went 4-1 in the tourney, took seventh place with a 73-61 win over Cheyenne, which finished the event with a 3-2 record; Despite a 4-1 record in the event, Rancho settled for ninth place after defeating Marana (Tucson, Ariz.) 55-47.
      Other locals in the tournament were: Basic (2-2 in the event), Chaparral (1-2), Cimarron-Memorial (2-2), Las Vegas II (1-3), Silverado (1-2), Valley (0-4) and Western (1-2).
      Local players who made the all-tournament team were: Basic's Mike Bentz, Chaparral's Richard Siegler, Cheyenne's Demetrius Hunter, Cimarron-Memorial's Brian Lang, Clark's Kevin Gaines, Durango's Rudy Charles, Eldorado's James Bayless, Las Vegas' Casey Reid-Crockett and Terrance Lawrence, Rancho's Kevin Cockrom and Silverado's Patrick Schaller.