Playoff Preview: 4A Matchup Breakdown

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Shadow Ridge at Las Vegas</strong> - The Mustangs make their first appearance in the 4A playoffs after a third-place finish in the Mountain Conference. Vegas returns to the playoffs after reaching the Final Four as a two-seed out of the Lake the previous year. They once again finish with the two seed and are led by a Jackson. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Key Players: </em>[player_tooltip player_id='1283804' first='Jalen' last='Butler'], [player_tooltip player_id='1253136' first='Tayshaun' last='Jackson'], [player_tooltip player_id='1345414' first='Marcus' last='Gomez'], [player_tooltip player_id='1538223' first='Liam' last='Guthrie'] </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Intangibles: </em>The Mustangs are making their first 4A playoff appearance while the Wildcats are seeking their second consecutive trip to the Final Four. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Shadow Wins If:</em> They can get additional scoring to go along with the play of Butler. Look for [player_tooltip player_id='1798312' first='Jeremiah' last='Campbell'] to step up. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Vegas Wins If:</em> They defend. The Wildcats have held every division opponent not named Mojave to under 60 points. If they can put together a similar effort against the Mustangs they have a great chance to advance. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Silverado at Valley</strong> - The Skyhawks travel to face a Valley team with two first team All Conference selections. The Vikings finished 2nd in the Mountain behind the play of Senior guard Naka Fabello. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Key Players: </em>[player_tooltip player_id='1281194' first='Julius' last='Robinson'], [player_tooltip player_id='1105245' first='Kollin' last='Ngo'], [player_tooltip player_id='985630' first='Nakalya' last='Fabello'], [player_tooltip player_id='1235060' first='Kevan' last='Wilkins']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Intangibles: </em>Silverado is making their first 4A playoff appearance. The Vikings advanced to the Quarterfinals a year ago. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Silverado Wins If: [player_tooltip player_id='1266707' first='Michael' last='Andersen'] plays big. It's no secret the Skyhawks are one of the smaller teams in the playoffs. Andersen's willingness to play out of position as well as score on the interior is key to the teams success. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Valley Wins If: Their stars play like stars. Wilkins and Fabello both have the ability to take over games. When they're on together the Vikings become a tough out. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cheyenne at Cimarron</strong> - The Desert Shields came on late in the season securing a 3rd place Desert division finish. They travel to take on an under the radar Spartans team that is seeking its second consecutive trip to the Final Four. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Key Players: </em>[player_tooltip player_id='985641' first='Christopher' last='Rodriguez'], [player_tooltip player_id='1364317' first='Josef' last='Major'], [player_tooltip player_id='1308369' first='Amir' last='McDaniels'], [player_tooltip player_id='1384285' first='Dalon' last='Mitchell']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Intangibles: </em>The Spartans have the experience of reaching Cox Pavillion a year ago. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Cheyenne Wins If:</em> [player_tooltip player_id='1009110' first='Steven' last='Carter'] is hitting from the outside. The senior sniper is capable of being a huge X-Factor in the game with his three point shooting ability. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Cimarron Wins If: </em>Offensive weapons [player_tooltip player_id='1277105' first='Christian' last='Cardona'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1491634' first='Jesse' last='Judkins'] do their part on the defensive end. The Spartans have more offensive firepower than last year, but demand defensive accountability. If the two microwave scorers can buy in, the Spartans will be a handful. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Basic v Rancho</strong> - The Wolves survived the loss of their leading scorer to finish 3rd in the Sky. They travel to the Eastside to clash with a Rancho team that is a trendy pick to reach the Final four. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Key Players: </em>[player_tooltip player_id='1737727' first='Alvonte' last='Nelson'], [player_tooltip player_id='1330085' first='Tayshaun' last='Waldrop'], [player_tooltip player_id='986966' first='R'zha' last='Whittle'], [player_tooltip player_id='1253142' first='Jakoi' last='Lide'] </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Intangibles: </em>Two traditional underdogs seek a playoff victory. Basic and Rancho have been down for the better part of a decade, however both programs have shown improvement over the last few years. They now meet in a first round playoff matchup with each team looking for a victory to put them one game away from reaching an improbable Final Four run. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Basic Wins If: </em>They can keep the Rams off the glass. Basic is one of the smaller teams and they will be taking on a Rancho squad featuring the 6'8 Whittle. The Wolves will need a collective team effort if they are to hold the Rams to one shot. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Rancho Wins If: </em>[player_tooltip player_id='1253142' first='Jakoi' last='Lide'] is on. Lide is probably the most unique X-Factor in the state as he's the teams leading scorer but not the primary option. Because of the size discrepancy I expect the ball to go into Whittle a lot, Lide's ability to stretch the floor could provide him with the space needed to operate. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->