Palo Verde, Foothill to clash for boys’ title

Adam Candee

Friday, Feb. 27, 2004 | 10:48 a.m.

RENO -- A little stage fright nearly put Palo Verde and Foothill right back on the bus to southern Nevada today.

Both the Panthers and Jaguars, though, overcame big first-half deficits against scrappy Northern teams in the hostile local environment to make it to tonight's 4A state title game. After splitting two games, they will meet for the third time this year as both schools look to put up their first boys' basketball state championship banner.

"What we did with them earlier in the season doesn't mean anything right now," Foothill coach Kevin Soares said. "(Tonight's) for all the marbles."

The Falcons (SR-1) fell behind Reed (N-1) by 10 points in the first quarter before settling in under the senior leadership of Jamaal Smith and Chris Crunk to eliminate the Raiders, 75-64, and move into the school's first state title game in any sport.

Smith scored 23 points and Crunk totaled 20 points, while sophomore Kevin Kreier stepped forward with a 17-point effort as Foothill continued its magic of creating a new hero whenever it needs one.

"We've been reading the papers and everything has been about Jamaal," Soares said. "And you know, I said, I didn't mention any of you guys for a purpose. I want them to focus solely on Jamaal, which they did, and the other guys stepped up and did what they had to do."

Palo Verde (SS-1) scored just 20 points in the first half against Elko's smothering defense, but huge second-half efforts from P'Allen Stinnett, Josh Steffen and Nate Schulte spurred the Panthers to a 56-52 win over the Indians (N-2).

Panthers coach Phil Clarke called his team's first half "the worst we've played," but reminded them at halftime that trailing 26-20 after an abysmal effort is not that bad.

"I said, 'You should be down 20,' " Clarke said. "Down six, it's huge. That's nothing."

Elko guard Ryan Klekas dropped Palo Verde into that hole by scoring 10 of his game-high 29 points in the first quarter. But the Panthers regrouped behind a tenacious defensive effort, led by Stinnett and Steffen. They scored the first six points of the second half to help the Panthers take the lead and, more important, break Elko's momentum.

"I told our guys at half, 'They think they won the game,' " Clarke said. "They're fired up, they're jumping on each other, and I said, 'It's a half, guys, it's a half.' Sixteen minutes to go and we were just a different team in the second half."

Schulte totaled 19 points and 12 rebounds, while scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half. Steffen finished with eight points.

"We just started playing together, passing the ball more, relying on our teammates," Schulte said. "Once that happened, things started clicking for us."

Foothill displayed a similar calm, coming from behind for the fourth time in as many playoff games. Soares watched his team struggle against Reed guards Robert Vega (21 points) and Kris Talancon (10 points) early as the bright lights rattled the Falcons.

"We had jitters to start the game," Soares said. "It was our first time here. Once we settled down, we started playing ball the way we were capable of."

Foothill hit huge 3-pointers to close the first and second quarters. The first one tied the game at 17 and keyed a 14-0 Falcons run, and the second pushed Foothill's lead from six to nine points going into halftime. Foothill dominated the second quarter, outscoring Reed by 14 points to establish control.

The Foothill defense took over from there, clamping down on Vega and Talancon and forcing Reed to settle for a number of mediocre outside shots.

"We knew who their two guys were and we wanted to try to wear them down," Soares said.

Foothill will have a few more scorers to prepare for against Palo Verde, but Soares said the primary focus is to limit Schulte's ability to score.

"I think they go to Schulte first," Soares said. "You've got to find Schulte. You've got to limit him to the amount of shots that he takes because he's their guy."