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TIEBREAKERS: Silverado on inside track, but far from finished in playoff race

Silverado’s comeback win over Coronado in boys basketball on Wednesday kept the Skyhawks in control of their own destiny for the Southeast League’s top seed in next week’s Sunrise Region playoffs.

But the Skyhawks don’t have an easy path to the finish, and the Southeast’s playoff race is far from complete.

At 11-2 in league play, Silverado holds a one-game lead over Green Valley, Foothill and Coronado with only Friday’s games left. The Skyhawks, though, must travel to Foothill, and a Falcon win in that game could set up a four-way tie for first place.

Green Valley hosts Liberty, and Coronado hosts Del Sol in games where the home team is at least slightly favored.

After some serious number crunching and the forced retirement of two calculators, the tiebreakers have been determined, and though they may not be easy to follow, we’re here to help.

Let’s go with the easiest possible scenario in the Southeast, which starts with a Silverado win over Foothill.

Silverado would win the league title at 12-2. Assuming Green Valley and Coronado win, they’d both be 11-3, and Foothill would finish 10-4.

Silverado would be the top seed. Green Valley, which swept Coronado, would be the No. 2 seed, leaving the Cougars with the No. 3 seed, and Foothill with a trip to Northeast League champion Valley in the playoff opener.

That’s the easy part.

Here’s the hard part:

If Foothill beats Silverado, and Green Valley and Coronado, both win, all four are in the pool at 11-3.
Given that they would all be 3-3 against each other, the next step in the tiebreaker process is point differential, with a maximum of 15 points difference in any game.

Green Valley is currently a plus-10. Silverado is a plus-3, followed by Foothill (minus-5) and Coronado (minus-8).

That’s great, but what does it mean?

It means that if Foothill wins by 14 or fewer points, Green Valley wins the tiebreaker and is the top seed. Yes, Green Valley is a Foothill fan.

Under Nevada Interscholastic Activities Assocation rules, the remaining three teams would be sent back to a three-way tiebreaker, which Coronado would win with a 3-1 head-to-head record, so Coronado would be the No. 2 seed.

Foothill and Silverado would be tied for third, having split their matchups (again, Foothill has to win on Friday) and having a like number of total wins by beaten opponents. Foothill would win the tiebreaker because it would have won the second meeting between the teams, making Foothill the No. 3 and Silverado the No. 4.

We’re not done.

If Foothill wins by 15 or more, Foothill and Green Valley would both be a plus-10 in point differential and would go into a head-to-head tiebreaker that Foothill would win because it swept Green Valley. Foothill would be the No. 1.

Green Valley goes back into the pool with Coronado and Silverado, but the Gators end up getting the No. 2 seed by virtue of a 3-1 head-to-head mark.

That leaves Coronado and Silverado for the No. 3 with a season-series split and a like number of beaten opponents’ wins. The advantage goes to Silverado by virtue of Wednesday’s victory. The

Skyhawks would be the No. 3 and Coronado would take the fourth spot.

Now, if either Coronado or Green Valley lose on Friday, all of this is irrelevant, and we’ll have to start over, meaning you would have just wasted three minutes.

Either way, stick close to Nevadapreps.com on Friday for frequent updates.

Northwest League

Wait. There’s another league with a potentially confusing finish.

Centennial leads the Northwest League at 13-2, but Legacy’s win over Palo Verde on Wednesday left both teams just a game back.

And Centennial must host Palo Verde on Friday. Legacy faces Shadow Ridge in a game that won’t be easy, but one in which Legacy should be favored.

A Centennial win makes the Bulldogs the top Northwest seed for the Sunset Region playoffs and would leave Legacy with the No. 2 seed on wins by beaten opponents. The Panthers would be the No. 3 seed, and Cimarron is locked into the fourth spot.

But if Palo Verde wins and Legacy wins, there will be a three-way tie for first at 13-3, with a triple split at 2-2 . We'd go to point differential, which Centennial leads at plus 13. Palo is second at minus-1 and Legacy is at minus-12.

If Palo wins by fewer than seven, Centennial is the 1, Legacy the 2 and Palo the 3.

If Palo wins by more than seven, Palo gets the 1. A Centennial-Legacy tiebreaker would favor Legacy, which swept Cheyenne. Legacy is the 2, Centennial the 3.

If Palo wins by seven, Centennial and Palo go into a head-to-head tiebreaker, which favors Centennial (a sweep of Cimarron). Centennial is the 1. Palo and Legacy revert, and Legacy wins that breaker for the 2.

Again, Nevadapreps.com will keep you updated on Friday.

Hang on. There’s still some fun left in the ride.

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