Charles Whisnand
RENO - Like the team he's helped lead to the promised land over the past two seasons, Kyle Lynch went down swinging.
It didn't matter that Lynch had to leave the game in the fourth quarter with a bloody chin. Lynch hit two three-pointers and scored the Muckers' last seven points in the last minute, but it wasn't enough as Virginia City lost to Lake Mead 63-58 on Friday in the NIAA 1A State semifinals at Damonte Ranch.
Virginia City couldn't overcome the hot shooting of Lake Mead, which sank seven three-pointers, including five in the first half, and the outstanding play of Mike Elles, who scored 26 points. Elles scored 10 straight points for Lake Mead during one stretch in the third quarter that was the turning point of the game.
While the result for the Muckers was disappointing, the effort wasn't. "You've got nothing to be ashamed of," Virginia City coach Hector Bucchianeri told his team after the game.
The situation didn't look good when Lake Mead built a 56-42 lead in the fourth quarter and Lynch had to leave the game after being fouled when he drove to the basket with five minutes left. Lynch banged his chin when he fell to the floor.
"I don't even feel it right now," Lynch said after the game. "I have so much adrenaline right now. I thought it was my nose at first."
Without Lynch, the Muckers mounted a comeback when Kevin Lynch and Max Day each hit threes to cut the deficit to 56-48. Kyle returned with 2:53 left. His two threes cut the deficit to 62-57 with 11.9 seconds left, but Virginia City just ran out of time.
"They're a good team," Kyle said. "We played our best. We didn't make a lot of inside shots.
"They shot freakin' awesome from the outside. There was nothing we could do about it. We left it out on the floor. That's all we could do."
Even though Virginia City was eliminated in the state semifinals for the second straight year, Kyle was still proud of his team's run over the past two years. Kyle and Mike Simons are the only seniors on this year's team.
"It's awesome," Kyle said. "We made it two years in a row. I think we're going to make it next year. We're going to have an awesome team."
Lake Mead hit three threes to build an 11-5 lead, but Virginia City came back to tie the score 13-13 late in the first quarter when Kevin scored on a strong drive to the basket. Lake Mead responded with two more threes during a 10-0 run to take a 23-13 lead. Kyle hit a three and Day scored on a fast break on a pass from Kevin to cut the deficit to 27-24.
Another three by Lake Mead gave it a 36-28 lead early in the third quarter, but Virginia City responded with a 6-0 run that cut the deficit to 36-34 and forced Lake Mead to call a timeout. Simons' foul line jumper made it 36-34.
But then Elles took over the game. During his 10-point run, Elles hit a three and followed with a more traditional three-point play that turned into a five-point play when Virginia City was called for a foul and a technical foul. Elles made the foul shot to conver the three-point play, then made both technicals to make it 46-36. Elles ended the quarter by scoring on a drive to give Lake Mead a 52-40 lead.
Kyle scored 21 points, Day had 18 points and Kevin had 14 points.