Boulder City boys cruise to state title

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Sunday, March 1, 2009 | 1:54 a.m.

Boulder City High guard Joey Felsenfeld dribbled the ball up the court at the Orleans Arena Saturday night during the 3A state basketball championship game, surveyed the defense and gave a perfect pass to Shane Levin for an easy basket.

It was like the longtime friends were back on the playground of Martha P. King Elementary School, not playing in the biggest game of their lives.

Felsenfeld, Levin, Jeremy Smith and Joey Western -- four of the five Boulder City starters -- have been teammates in every sport since their days at King. On Saturday, they took the basketball court together for the last time.

They exited together as champions.

Levin had a team-high 14 points while Smith dominated the inside for 10 points and 14 rebounds to lead Boulder City past Moapa Valley 62-46 for the program's first state title since 1999.

"We love playing with each other," said Felsenfeld, who finished with nine points and five assists. "We've been together since first grade. After awhile, it felt like we were back in the gym at Boulder City."

Boulder City coach Bobby Reese said he felt like he had coached the group of seniors for more than their four years in high school. Like most of the town's youth basketball players, they were regular participants in Reese's summer camp. Others seniors, such as key reserves Chris Leach and Jake Phillips, were part of the core group that grew up on the court together.

"They were coming to my camp in the second grade," Reese said. "I remember their dads making them come over and shake my hand."

Reese replaced Felsenfeld with 21 seconds to play and the Eagles ahead by 14 points. The team leader received a standing ovation from the vocal section of roughly 400 Boulder City fans, and was greeted with a gigantic hug from his coach.

That started the festivities as the clock quickly expired and Boulder City players raced onto the court for the celebration of a lifetime. It was a championship literally a decade, or longer, in the making.

"We've been each others' best friend for our whole lives," Western said. "We had talked about winning (state) since our freshman year and worked so hard together."

Boulder City never trailed as Levin and Alex Dillon combined for eight points in the opening three minutes to help the Eagles build a 10-0 advantage.

But they did not score in the final four minutes of the first half and Moapa Valley went on a 11-0 run to cut its deficit to 24-22 at halftime.

"We haven't been able to play a full 32-minute game all year. Why start today," Reese said jokingly. "But I will take three good quarters."

Boulder City took fourth in the four-team 3A Southern League this winter and, even with two wins in the state tournament, finished with a losing record at 15-16. Simply making the championship game could have been considered a success.

Not for this group of longtime friends.

The Eagles outscored Moapa Valley 17-8 in the third quarter, then scored the initial four points of the fourth quarter to build a comfortable advantage.

"This is a special group," Reese said. "I will miss these kids a ton."

Dillon, a senior who transferred to the school as a sophomore and immediately bonded with the group, was limited with foul trouble and finished with seven points.

Preston Swasey helped Smith control the inside with 11 points and five rebounds, and Kyle Dimpel had four points.

Moapa Valley's Brad Weiss had a game-high 17 points and Max Jenkins added 13.

"Boulder City played some tough man-to-man defense and their big guys had some success on the inside," Moapa Valley coach Dallas Larsen said. "They played well all year against us. We just weren't able to hit our shots tonight."

Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or [email protected].