This is not your ordinary Sunrise Region girls basketball champion. For the past decade, the Sunrise Region champ was considered an also-ran next to the likes of Las Vegas-area and state powerhouses Centennial and Bishop Gorman, both Sunset Region schools.

Liberty (25-4) might be changing that perception after dominating the Sunrise Region tournament last week.

The Henderson school went 13-1 in Sunrise-Southeast play this year, with its lone league loss coming at fifth-place Basic by two points on a buzzer-beater at the end of January.

In the month of February, the Patriots rolled to five straight victories to close out the regular season, clinching the school’s first Southeast Division title in its short seven-year history. The Patriots followed that up with their first Sunrise Region title and a berth to their first state tournament.

In the quarterfinals at regionals, all four Southeast League teams advanced but none of the league rivals could come close to Liberty. The Patriots beat Valley (No. 4 NE) 65-37, Foothill (No. 3 SE) 55-36 and dominated Green Valley (No. 2 SE) 83-65 for the regional crown. However, all three games were played at Liberty as it hosted the Sunrise tourney.

The Patriots won’t have that luxury when the state tournament starts Thursday. Liberty gets Northern Region runner-up Reed at 3 p.m. All 4A state playoff games will be held at Lawlor Events Center .

“Honestly I don’t think they’re worrying too much about the length of the trip. They’re more thinking about what happens when they get there,” Liberty girls basketball coach Quintin Lester said. “It’s fun. It’s the state tournament. We have an opportunity to win a state title for the first time in school history. There’s a lot of buzz around school.”

While Reed touts one of the best posts in the North in 6-foot-2 Danielle Peacon at 21 points and 12 rebounds a game, the Patriots have a talented post, who could provide a good matchup. Although not as tall, 5-foot-10 senior Daynice Cochran averages right around a double-double per game.

The Patriots will be at a height disadvantage, and that will be the key weakness Reed will try to exploit as the Raiders have three players who average around double figures in rebounding. Sophomore Nyasha LeSure, who missed the regional tournament due to a concussion, pulls down around 12 a game, while Honor Knudsen has stepped up as of late and is recording about 10 rebounds per outing.

However, Liberty has a trio of guards who can alleviate some of the pressure on Cochran down low. Junior guard Amanda Delgado lit up Green Valley in the Sunrise championship game for 28 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Teammate point guard Jade Washington added 16 points and seven assists.

Delgado leads the team in scoring at around 17.5 points game, while Washington is one of four Patriots who average double figures in scoring. Washington and third guard Destiny Whitehead score about 13 and 11 points a night respectively.

All five starters returned from a Patriots squad that finished in third place in the Southeast Division a year ago and won the first playoff game in school history, so Lester had a core already set in place when he took over coaching duties prior to this season.

“I think the mentality was different,” the first-year coach said. “We expected to win rather than hoping to win. We have a driven group that is very ambitious. We have our goals and the girls do everything in their power to achieve them.”

Liberty is a pretty strong defensive team, allowing about 46 points an outing. The Patriots score approximately 63 points a game.

Their style of play depends on the opponent though. Lester said they’ve played a lot of high-scoring games where they’ve forced a lot of turnovers and scored a bunch.

Reed girls basketball coach Sara Schopper knows it will be a battle, but feels the Raiders have been prepared for this matchup.

“They have some quick guards. They pressure the ball and score off turnovers. They’re scrappy,” Schopper said. “They have some good guards who can get to the cup. But we played against the best guard in the state to me (Reno’s Stephanie Rovetti) four times now. She’s probably prepared us for their guards because they do the same thing, get to the key and kick it out. So it’s nothing we haven’t seen.”

Cochran is the only senior starter for the Patriots. While all five return from last year’s team, this is all new territory for them.

The Raiders didn’t qualify for state last season, but do have several players from the state qualifier in 2008. Plus, Reed (20-8) is used to high-pressure games, having reached the Northern 4A championship game seven years in a row.

Peacon, one of six seniors on the RHS roster, believes Reed has a little extra motivation.

“I finally know what it feels like to be a senior and lose on the Zone floor, and I don’t want to have that feeling again on Thursday,” Peacon said. “I think knowing it could be your last game with your high school team makes you play that much harder.”