Gorman, Silverado girls see title hopes dashed

Spencer Patterson

Friday, Feb. 23, 2001 | 11:37 a.m.

Thursday's semifinals

Â· Reno 55, Bishop Gorman 32

Â· Galena 43, Silverado 38

Today's championship

Â· Reno (25-4) vs. Galena (25-5), 9 p.m.

RENO -- How much difference can 24 hours make?

For Bishop Gorman's girls basketball team, the answer to that question adds up to an unfathomable 49 points.

One day after taking down top-ranked McQueen by 26 points in the first round of the 4A State Tournament, the Gaels found out what it's like to be on the other side of a blowout, falling to No. 2 Reno 55-32 in the semifinals Thursday at Nevada-Reno's Lawlor Events Center.

Considered by many to be Southern Nevada's best chance for the region's first large-school girls title since 1980, Gorman sealed its fate with atrocious 8-for-53 shooting from the floor, with a good portion of that futility attributable to an intense Huskies' defensive effort.

"When you shoot 8-for-53, you're not going to win any ballgames," Gaels coach Sheryl Krmpotich said. "It's very disappointing because we didn't come out and play our style. They set the tempo and we were trying to play catch-up."

Later on Thursday, remaining Southern Nevada hopeful Silverado gave defending state champion Galena a run for its money but came up short, losing 43-38 to set up a Reno-Galena title game for the second straight year.

"I feel we represented Vegas very well, but it's unfortunate we couldn't take it any farther," Skyhawks coach Diane Hernandez said.

The Huskies (25-4) and Grizzlies (25-5) will square off tonight at 9.

Also on Thursday, Mineral County knocked The Meadows from the 2A girls tournament, posting a 65-33 victory over the Mustangs in round one of the four-team event.

In particular, 6-0 Jessica Stewart and 6-2 Lorie LeMay wreaked havoc against Gorman, scoring 13 and 10 points, respectively, and combining to block a whopping seven shots.

"We felt we had contrasting styles," Reno coach Craig Campbell said. "They're like a 4x100 relay team, and we had to get back and use our size to our advantage. We looked on film and saw that 80 percent of their points come on layups, and we tried to take that away from them."

Playing ferocious in-your-face defense, the Huskies limited the Gaels' fastbreak chances and challenged their outside shots. During one stretch, Reno held Gorman without a field goal for more than 12 minutes -- a drought that spanned portions of three quarters.

Most significantly, the Huskies held the Gaels' "big three" in check all night. Saddled with foul trouble, senior forward Jen Kline managed just three points on 1-for-5 shooting.

Trailing by 12 points at the start of the fourth quarter, Silverado turned to center Jayme Connors and the senior responded, coming up with a pair of baskets and three rebounds during a 6-0 run that pulled the Skyhawks within six, 38-32, with five minutes remaining.

But the Grizzlies made just enough free throws down the stretch (5-of-11) to keep Silverado at bay.

"It was a great battle between two teams, and Galena had the edge on us today," Hernandez said.

The Skyhawks kept things close despite a poor shooting night from leading scorer Nikki Hitchens. One night after scoring 16 points to lead her team past Centennial in round one, Hitchens tallied just six points on 2-for-13 shooting from the floor.

"She took good shots, and if a few more of those had fallen, we might have been on the other end," Hernandez said.

Connors wound up with 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead Silverado, with Hitchens chipping in with nine rebounds. Kellie Burton spearheaded Galena's win with 14 points and eight boards, while Joanna Hixon added 12 points and six rebounds.

Kari Gregory and Nicole James netted 11 points apiece for The Meadows.