Reno coach declares: ‘It would take a near-perfect game’ to beat Gaels

Nick Christensen

Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005 | 9:20 a.m.

Observers up north pegged this year's 4A boys' teams as possibly the strongest group in the past 20 years, and out of the fracas of up to five championship contenders, Galena advanced as the lone entrant in the 4A semifinals.

So why is Grizzlies coach Tom Maurer talking about being a 22-point underdog?

"I felt like we were the third- or fourth-placed team in the North," Maurer said. "We start a freshman and two sophomores. We're brought up with fundamentals. ... We label ourselves the Stanford of basketball. We're so young I couldn't tell you what we're strong at."

So young that the last time Galena got to the state semifinals, freshman Luke Babbitt was in first grade. That was in 1997, when the Grizzlies lost to Bishop Gorman in the state championship at Reno's Lawlor Events Center.

"It was the first time a Reno school had been in the title game since the 1960s," Maurer said. "There were 8,500 people at Lawlor. Gorman throws in the amoeba defense, and it was probably the most boring game I've ever been in, let alone had to watch on tape."

This week, Galena again faces Bishop Gorman, but this time it's at Las Vegas' Orleans Arena, the first time the state tournament has been held in Southern Nevada since 1987. It's also the first time the Northern Region has just one entrant into the state tournament, after years of an eight-team field and an even split of the four entrants last year.

Galena is led by senior Derek Lorenzen, whose 18.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game have guided the Grizzlies to a 24-8 record. But Maurer says his team's youth means it'll take a Herculean effort to get past the Grizzlies' semifinal against Bishop Gorman.

"Some say it would be a Villanova win," Maurer said, referring to the 1985 NCAA basketball champions who beat heavily favored Georgetown. "It would take a near-perfect game to nail (Gorman). I'll just give the example that (Kashif) Watson could go down in the first minute with three fouls, and a kid could come off the bench and score 20.

"You've got to have chemistry, you've got to develop chemistry and character in your kids and mental toughness. It's something young kids coming out of junior high last year don't have. We'll eventually work at it but it's not going to happen in the next two days."

Bishop Gorman and the Grizzlies meet at 8 p.m. Thursday.

Just before the Galena boys game, the Northern champion Reno girls will try to advance to their third consecutive state championship game. They face Sunset Region winner Bishop Gorman at 6:20 p.m. at the Orleans.

"The last time it (the tournament) was held in the South, I was a player," Reno coach Craig Campbell said.

The Huskies have been anchored by 6-foot-2 forward Mackenzie Butler, who averages over 12 rebounds and four blocks a game, and guard Kaylan King, who's scoring 17 points per game this year.

"Those two have been a core for us," Campbell said. "I remember the one year we didn't make it they were freshmen, we got upset by Carson in the zone semifinals. We walked out of the locker room, and I said those two won't let us lose that game again. We won three straight regional championships."

Reno has faced two of the other three state semifinalists, losing to Centennial by 38 in December, then to Bishop Gorman in the championship of the West Coast Jamobree in Pittsburg, Calif.

"It was about a three-point game for most of the game," Campbell said. "They're big, they shoot, they have some quickness off the bench. We have a lot of respect for Gorman. They play the game the way it's supposed to be played."

He said having already seen both of the Southern favorites is an advantage to his girls.

"We've seen them, we schedule the best teams we can possibly play," Campbell said. "The game against Gorman, we did some good things. It was a well-played, clean game by both teams."

Around the Bracket

After all, most of the roster of this year's Centennial girls' team was a part of the Bulldogs' past three championship runs. Through most of this season, Centennial looked like an unstoppable group of seasoned champions.

But this month, fate leveled the playing field a bit, forcing senior Whitney Price to have knee surgery, and then benching standout sophomore guard Italee Lucas with a foot injury during last week's 60-54 Sunset Region final loss to Bishop Gorman.

The news on Lucas isn't as bad as first thought. Centennial coach Karen Weitz said doctors think her injury is just a stressed ligament or tendon on the top of her foot.

"According to the orthopedists she's seen, no further damage can be done," Weitz said. "It's just a matter of staying off of it and letting it heal."

So Lucas will dress for Thursday's state semifinal against Coronado, possibly just as a third warm body on the bench.

Weitz, who won't bring up any players from junior varsity as an insurance policy for this week's semifinals, is just left scratching her head at this season's injuries.

"I have to say, this season alone was one of the oddest," she said. "We've been really fortunate with injuries in the last four years, and now we combine them all on us.

"The kids that are available to play, I have all the confidence in the world in them. They'll come out knowing what's at sake, and people will be surprised at the effort you can get out of seven girls."

Centennial plays at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Orleans Arena.

With both 3A South finalists qualifying for this week's state tournament, the third-seeded Bulldogs faced arch-rival Moapa Valley in the regional semifinals.

Virgin Valley stepped it up, coming back to defeat the Pirates 57-55 in overtime and earn a state berth. Moapa Valley had represented the 3A South from 1999-2004, winning the 2003 championship and finishing second the other five years.

"Any time those two teams get together, I'd throw the records out the window," Bulldogs coach Gary Neva said. "I think they got a leg up on us the last few years."

Neva said the hallmark of his team is its unselfish play.

"One of the keys has been, we don't have any superstars," he said. "They're just kids going out and working hard every day. Different ones just happen to step up a little bit whenever they're needed, that's really been the difference of late."

Virgin Valley faces 3A North champion Dayton at 12:40 p.m. Friday at the Orleans Arena.