South boys struggle in opening round

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2000 | 12:12 p.m.

RENO -- It was bound to happen sometime.

After 20 wins in the last 24 first-round games in the 4A State Boys Basketball Tournament, Southern Nevada finally ran into some unexpected opposition from its northern counterparts at the Lawlor Events Center on Wednesday.

Northern teams knocked two of Las Vegas' best -- Las Vegas High and Valley -- out of the event, and came shockingly close to a clean sweep, as Bishop Gorman and Durango held off feisty opponents in games that were far closer than expected.

For the north, the word of the day was "stall," as three of the four Reno-area schools utilized a Princeton-style offense to give their southern foes fits.

For McQueen, which posted a 34-30 win over Sunrise Region champion Las Vegas, the slowdown game worked to perfection, as the Lancers held the more athletic Wildcats in check throughout the contest.

Likewise, for South Tahoe, coach Tom Orlich's traditional spread offense sent Valley packing 54-49, with the Vikings unable to utilize their quickness in the open court.

And for Galena, the stall was nearly enough to pull an upset of mammoth proportions, as the Grizzlies gave top-ranked Bishop Gorman all it could handle in a 49-40 Gaels' win.

Reno, the only northern squad willing to get out and run with its opponent, also gave Sunset Region champion Durango fits, rallying from a 15-point deficit to within four before finally succumbing 71-62.

"I think the south has been taking (the north) for granted a little bit," Valley coach Gene Carpenter said. "We expected everything they did -- the delay and the spread offensive, and we worked on it in practice. But they were the better coached team tonight."

In today's semifinals, Bishop Gorman (25-5) will take on McQueen (18-9) at 3:20 p.m., with Durango (24-7) matching up with South Tahoe (27-4) at 6:35 p.m. The Lancers and Vikings will be vying to become the first northern school to reach the 4A final since Galena lost to Gorman in the 1997 championship.

* BISHOP GORMAN 49, GALENA 40: The Grizzlies (20-12) had the Gaels on the ropes at halftime, leading 23-14 after holding Gorman to a mere six field goals.

"I was hoping we could set the tempo, but they controlled the first half," Gorman coach Jeff Wagonseller said. "I probably yelled more in that first half than I have all season. We're too good a team to play that badly."

The Gaels were also saddled with injury problems, with junior guard Jason Rogers already out of action with a broken arm (suffered in last week's Sunset Region Tournament) and senior point guard Danny Gomez pulling a groin early in Wednesday's contest.

But the Gaels rebounded from their poor start, storming back with a 13-0 run to open the third quarter to go in front 27-23.

Galena regained the lead briefly at 33-32 with 6:52 left in the final quarter, but Jason Carter (nine points, 10 rebounds) and Paul Bania (12 points, five rebounds) dominated down the stretch, and the Gaels hit 8-of-10 free throws in the closing moments to ice the contest.

* DURANGO 71, RENO 62: The Trailblazers came out red-hot, building a 42-28 halftime lead with their usual brand of up-tempo basketball and strong low-post play from sophomore center Martrel Johnson (22 points, 11 rebounds).

From the opening tip, Durango took the ball right at 6-9 Reno center David Padgett, sending the freshman to the bench with three fouls just six minutes into the contest.

"Everyone thinks he's a big shot-blocker, but we weren't going to change our game plan for one person," said Trailblazers guard Jamaal Brimmer, who finished with a game-high 30 points, along with 11 rebounds.

The Huskies (24-7), Northern Nevada's most consistent team during the regular season, did not quit though, rallying behind the inspired play of point guard Alex Gamboa (15 points). With the 6-0 junior running the show, Reno pulled within 57-55 with 5:40 left in the game.

Padgett also played a significant role in the comeback, scoring all 11 of his points in the second half and finishing with six blocks and eight rebounds.

But Brimmer took over down the stretch, scoring 12 points in the final quarter to thwart the Huskies' upset attempt.

* McQUEEN 34, LAS VEGAS 30: The Lancers held the Wildcats (24-7) to 11 second-half points, shutting down Las Vegas' offense with a disciplined zone defense and holding the ball for long chunks of time on offense.

"Teams felt we couldn't beat the zone; we thought we could," Wildcats coach Bob Beskow said. "Obviously, this team thought we couldn't."

Las Vegas senior forward Tremmell Darden, one of Southern Nevada's leading scorers, got off to a good start, scoring nine points -- including a highlight-reel baseline drive-and-dunk. But from there, he managed just three points, as the Lancers clogged up the middle and prevented him from penetrating.

"They just didn't show us that they had anyone who could consistently knock down the 3-point shot," coach Erin Swain said. "If we controlled the defensive glass and the tempo, we knew we could be successful."

Trailing 32-30 late in the contest, the Wildcats had several opportunities for a tying or go-ahead basket. But three errant passes sailed out of bounds, sealing their fate as the first southern team to exit the tournament.

* SOUTH TAHOE 54, VALLEY 49: The Vikings (18-9) never got into a comfort zone, falling behind early and going ahead just once -- 35-34 -- early in the final quarter.

"Our breakdown came offensively," Carpenter said. "We wanted to be up-tempo a little bit more, but we didn't score for long stretches and that hurt us."

Highly touted South Tahoe guard John Giannoni rebounded from a poor first half, scoring all 11 of his points in the final two periods, including eight in the final five minutes.

For Valley, senior Chris Green finished his final high school game with 15 points, while junior Sam Jackson added 12 in the losing cause.