RENO - When Pahranagat Valley was upset in last weekend's Southern 1A championship to Spring Mountain, the McDermitt High School boys basketball team was getting a tough opponent in the two-time defending champions from Alamo.
The Bulldogs (22-7) played three strong quarters with the Panthers, but it was a decisive fourth period that led Pahranagat Valley to a 67-51 win on Friday afternoon at Lawlor Events Center in Reno in the opening round of the NIAA 1A State Basketball Championships. The Panthers went on to win their third championship in as many years by beating Spring Mountain in Saturday's title matchup.
"Alamo won the 50-50 battle, the free throw line battle and the rebounding battle," said MHS head coach Lowell Egan. "I thought we responded well in the second quarter and took the lead into halftime. You really need multiple efforts in order to beat a team like Alamo. They were just relentless all night. They ran the break well and are a very good team. We just ran out of gas at the end."
Buckets by LeRon Tom and a 3-point shot by Justin Fettic put the Bulldogs up 5-4 in the early going. Pahranagat Valley's Austin Poulsen answered with a 3-point shot of his own to put the Panthers back in front.
Tom and Fettic each hit shots later in the first quarter, but the Panthers countered a 3-point shot late in the period to take a 17-13 lead.
Sparked by a three-point play by Tyler Coble the old-fashioned way and a 3-pointer by Josh Harrer, McDermitt clawed its way back into the game and took a three-point lead into the half. Fettic also added six points in the second period, as the Bulldogs held the Panthers to eight points and three field goals in the second quarter.
After holding Pahranagat Valley down in the second quarter, the Panthers' Poulsen and Chase Hansen hit back-to-back 3-point shots to retake the advantage at 31-30. A running shot by Victor Gomez tied the game for the Bulldogs, but Hansen came right back down the floor for the Panthers and made his second 3-point shot of the third period. Moments later, Poulsen added a steal and a layup to put Pahranagat Valley up by five points at 36-31.
Fettic countered with his second 3-point shot to close the gap to two points, but the Panthers were able to keep the advantage at three points entering the fourth quarter.
The difference proved to be the start of the fourth quarter, when Pahranagat Valley scored the first eight points to lead by 11 while also holding McDermitt scoreless for nearly three minutes.
Tom ended the 8-0 run with a pair of free throws. The senior put up much of the offense by scoring 11 of the Bulldogs' 13 points, with Harrer adding the other two. Frankie Hill and Harrer fouled out toward the end, as Pahranagat Valley shot 31 free throws in the game and made 19.
"The game was much closer than the score showed," Egan said. "The guys left everything on the floor last night. Everyone is happy and proud for them. We are a class act and that is not going to change because we lost a basketball game. It was important to us at the time but there are more important things out there. I feel like the well is not going to be dry next year. We have a lot of young kids coming up through the program."
Fettic and Tom paced McDermitt with 17 and 16 points, respectively. Victor Gomez, Ian Hinkey and Harrer scored five each and Coble added three.
"After the game we were disappointed that we were not in the championship game, but we are not disappointed with the season," Egan said. "I am proud of my guys. I feel for the seniors, but they have a lot to feel good about and should be proud of what they have done as a group. It is a nice accomplishment to get to the state tournament. It has been 10 years since we played in a state tournament. These guys put McDermitt basketball back on the map."
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