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Shabazz Muhammad takes it in against the Sierra Vista defense Vista during the Sunset Regional boys basketball championship at Desert Oasis High School in Las Vegas Friday, February 18, 2011. Bishop Gorman advances with an 84-66 win.
Published Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011 | 10:34 p.m.
Updated Friday, Feb. 25, 2011 | 1:33 a.m.
Boys semifinals
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KSNV coverage of boys state semifinal basketball, Feb. 24, 2011.
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Can anyone beat Gorman at state?
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Las Vegas Sun sports reporters Ray Brewer and Case Keefer preview this weekend's state basketball tournament. They disagree on whether Eldorado or Sierra Vista will win the play-in game, but see the same outcome regardless.
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Some of their eyes were swollen with tears streaming down their faces. Others’ eyes were blood-red and bulging, oozing with anger.
A wide range of emotions existed on the faces of Bishop Gorman basketball players as they exited the locker room at the Orleans Arena on Thursday night, but one feeling was universal — disbelief.
The Gaels will not capture their third consecutive state championship this year. After establishing itself as one of the top programs in the country, Gorman did not march through the state tournament with ease like many expected.
Gorman lost its first game to an in-state opponent in more than two years in the semifinals Thursday night. Bishop Manogue 45, Bishop Gorman 44.
“It’s tough,” junior Ben Carter said. “No one has much to say.”
Gorman had its chances to eke out a victory against Reno’s Manogue, the Northern region champion. With seven seconds left, the Gaels had the ball for one final possession.
Noah Robotham drove to the basket and received an open look, but his shot bounced off the rim and a tip-in attempt from Shabazz Muhammad also missed.
“We missed a quick and easy one, but we had a good attempt,” Gorman coach Grant Rice said. “Shabazz had his hands on the ball and he didn’t put it in, either. We had two chances on it.”
It was a frustrating end to the night for Muhammad, one of the top juniors in the nation. Muhammad scored a season-low nine points on 2-for-7 shooting and never established any consistency.
Manogue appeared to do an admirable job of limiting Muhammad’s opportunities, but Rice said Muhammad was also dealing with an injury.
“He hasn’t practiced the last two days,” Rice said. “His ankle is really bothering him. He just wasn’t anywhere close to himself tonight, obviously.”
Despite playing against a team with multiple Division-I athletes, Manogue senior Niles Lujan was the best player on the floor down the stretch. He scored 11 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter
“I was in the zone, I guess,” Lujan said. “We needed to score and we weren’t getting open looks. We couldn’t get anything inside because they are much bigger than us, so we had to come up with something. Today it was me.”
Lujan drained an NBA-range three-pointer with three minutes remaining to tie the game at 40. Gorman roared back and held a 44-41 lead after Rosco Allen made a layup with 49 seconds left.
But Manogue’s Zachery McElroy scored on the next possession to cut it to a one-point game. Ignoring Rice’s pleas to hold onto the ball and let the clock run down, the Gaels went inside to Ronnie Stanley who missed a short jumper with less than 20 seconds remaining.
Ethan Dillard raced down the court and converted a layup to make the score 45-44. Gorman called a timeout before running its ill-fated final play.
“We didn’t execute,” said Carter, who led Gorman with 13 points and 10 rebounds. “That’s what it comes down to. We didn’t run our stuff. We didn’t go to our strengths.”
When Gorman overcame a shaky start to beat Manogue 65-52 in last year’s semifinals, it was seen as nothing more than a blip on its quest to repeat as state champions. To Manogue, that game meant much more.
Lujan said it made the Miners realize they could become the best team in Nevada.
“Our goal from the moment we lost was to come back here and win,” Lujan said. “It’s just a great feeling. It’s irreplaceable.”
Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or case.keefer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
Congratulations on a great season. You can't win them all. Home and away; I'm sure if dunking the ball was legal in high school that Bishop Gorman would have won handily.......
Dunking the ball is legal in high school. Congratulations Bishop Minogue. Great defense.
I am absolutely stunned by this result WOW!
Great job Bishop Manogue! And nice effort Gorman! Contratulations to both teams.
Dunking is legal in High School.
Big congraulations to the Miners.
Ben Carter was by far Gorman's best player last night. But watching the game, it's clear that Manogue had a huge advantage in the coaching department. The Miners were constantly moving, setting screens, and flashing to the ball. You could tell that they had a great offensive scheme. On the other hand, Gorman's offensive scheme seemed to lie in chaos and standing around.
I think Rice got exposed for relying solely on the talent of his players, not being a good coach. Seriously, who takes a time out immediately after your team scores?!? Are you trying to kill your own momentum? Also, when you have a noticeable size advantage (Muhammad, Carter, Allen), why don't you post these guys on the block and pound the ball? If Gorman had Manogue's coach, it would be the best high school basketball program in the nation.
@Rebel_Mike: I have been wondering this too lately. With the talent they have they should dominate. If they played like Vista, trapping and flying to the ball they wouldn't allow more than 30 points in any game. The problem is it seems to function more like an AAU team than a high school team. Get the best players, make them happy by limiting structure and assume it will be good enough. I didn't see the game, but after the timeout you talked about did they come out in a different defense or make an adjustment you could see? If so than the timeout is justifiable, but if not I agree with you.
If you were able to watch Manogue play this year or last, you would not have been as surprised. They play hard, play smart, play together, and to their strengths. I hope that Lujan earns a scholarship from this game because the kid was the best player on the court last night. Knowing how hard Shabazz competes, that ankle must have been killing him. Ben carried Gorman and showed why he might be the best all around player to come out of Vegas in a while. It also showed that Roscoe has much room for improvement in his overall game. Bottom line is there is no reason a Top 25 Nationally ranked with 3 high major recruits should have lost.
Case: Did you come up with the title? It is sad how stupid the rivalry is between Vegas and Reno. All you did was disrespect the kids by saying "Reno School" as opposed to "Bishop Manogue".
@BBallFan
No, I didn't see an adjustment after the time out. You would figure that they were going to make a defensive adjustment, which primarily consisted of putting Muhammed on the point guard.
The critique that Gorman plays like an AAU team is right on. Watching the Gaels play in transition is amazing, but their trouble with playing against a press and in a half court offense shows the overall lack of coaching.
Anyway, I'm glad to see that Carter is considering UNLV. We could use his length and size in two years. Muhammad is likely a one-and-done player, so UNC would probably be the best fit for him.
This goes to show that sports games are played on the fields or courts not in peoples prognostications .congrats to the other private Bishop school job well done from Canyon Springs supporter see you tonight.
@ VegasVegas: The funny thing about Gorman from what I have seen is the varsity has anywhere from 4-6 assistants on the bench which is in addition to the head coach. Most high schools in town have maybe 4 total coaches Varsity down through Freshman. With that many coaches you would think your players would develop twice or three times as fast as players at schools with far fewer coaches. There is a big difference between having 1 coach and 3 or 4 players at a basket and 1 coach and more than 10. I coach at the middle school level in town and some of the most successful teams in town are the teams with 2,3 and even 4 coaches, because they can develop their players and keep everyone working at all times with very little downtime in practice.
Yes, dunking is legal in HS basketball :)
BG has much to proud of, but on this night beaten by a group of giant slayers that wanted it much more then BG.
Agree, BM kids outplayed the NCAA prospects and Coach B without question, out coached a good BG coaching staff. He prepared and his kids executed.
Congrats BMHS. MrB