BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal Galena's Caitlin Anderson, center, grabs an offensive rebound during the first half of their Northern 4A Championship game against the Reed Raiders on Saturday evening at the Morse Burley Gym in Carson CIty.
With two victories over High Desert League rival Reed in the regular season and a trip to the Class 4A state championships next week already sown up, it would have been understandable if the Galena girls basketball team would have been a little off its game Saturday.
But that wasn't the case, as the Lady Grizzlies started off fast offensively and clamped down defensively on the way to a 58-38 victory over the Lady Raiders in the NIAA Northern 4A Region championship game at Morse Burley Gym.
It was the first regional championship since 2001 for the Grizzlies, who improved to 25-4 on the season and will face Bishop Gorman Thursday in the opening round of the state championships at Lawlor Events Center.
Senior forward Caitlin Anderson scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Grizzlies, who also got 13 from senior guard Caitlin Crofts and eight from sophomore Langley Iverson.
Oceanna Johnson scored a team-high nine points for the Raiders, who fell to 20-8 on the season and will face Basic in the opening round of the state championships Thursday.
As confident as she was of her team, Grizzlies coach Karen Friel was in a state of disbelief in how easy Galena made the win look.
"The first two times we beat Reed (62-58, 65-61) and we didn't know how because they are such a good team," Friel said. "For this to have been 20 points, you could have never told me that. Caitlin Anderson played such a hard game, with such heart. I couldn't be happier for the kid."
Anderson did most of her damage early from the free-throw line, converting 9-of-10 in the first three quarters (she finished 9-of-11). She also scored eight points on four baskets in the decisive fourth quarter, in which Galena turned it up another notch, outscoring the Raiders 15-9 and squashing any attempts at a comeback.
"I really wanted to win this game," Anderson said. "I've never been to state before. We shut down Kayla Williams (who had only six points) and didn't leave any three-point shooters open or they'd make it every time. We knew we had to beat a team three times. We came out really hard and shut them down."
Galena trailed twice early - including when Erica McKenzie's 10-foot jumper gave the Raiders a 4-2 lead - but Iverson's pair of free throws made it 6-4 with 6 minutes, 25 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Williams later converted a pair of free throws and then scored on a layup to make it 12-10, but Galena responded with an 8-0 run.
McKenzie drilled a three to bring Reed to within one -18-17 - to open the second, but Galena opened up its fullcourt offense and fly paper defense to go on a 15-0 run to put the game pretty much out of reach, 33-19, by the opening of the third quarter.
Galena took a 43-29 lead into the fourth and outplayed the Raiders the rest of the way.
"I'm so happy for this particular group," Friel said. "It seems like they've been with me forever. This group deserves this."
Friel said her joy was tempered only for a moment after speaking with Reed coach Sara Schopper.
"Sara reminded me we get to play Gorman next," Friel said. "I'll take that. We'll go in with a win, I guess."
BOYS 4A CHAMPIONSHIP
RENO 66, HUG 61
If there's one trait the Reno Huskies possess, it's intestinal fortitude.
The Huskies lost both regular season games to Sierra League rival Hug (86-82 in three overtimes at home and 75-71 at Hug) and trailed by as many as 10 points (40-30, with 4 minutes, 44 seconds remaining in the third quarter), but they never gave up when the going got rough.
Senior guard Roman Van Allen scored 11 of his team-high 22 points in the third quarter and another six in the fourth to lead Reno to its first regional championship since 1982 (according to Reno coach Kyle Schellin).
After Eddie Cranford found Darryl Feemster for a layup and the 40-30 lead, Van Allen scored nine consecutive points in Reno's 11-0 run and got the Huskies back into it.
Feemster had a game-high 27 points for Hug, who also got 26 from Armon Johnson, but the Hawks (26-4) got into a spate of foul trouble and missed several shots down the stretch as the Huskies (25-5) took the win.
Both teams advanced to next week's Class 4A state championships at Lawlor Events Center, beginning Thursday.
The two teams went toe-to-toe until Michael Nelson's turnaround jumper ignited an 8-0 run for Reno, as it went up 55-48, with 3:14 to go.
But Hug answered with its own 8-0 run, beginning with a Johnson jumper and ending with a Feemster drive to the hoop to tie it 55-55, with 1:40 remaining in the game.
A trio of free throws by Mulligan and Austin Morgan, followed by a Bryan Carano putback put Reno back up 60-55, with under 30 seconds to go.
Although a Johnson 3-pointer brought the Hawks back to within 62-61, with 2.2 seconds to go, Van Allen's pair of free throws sealed up the game.
"We had a motivational talk at halftime," Van Allen said. "We had to step up and make shots and (Schellin) was telling us, defense, defense, defense. Defense leads to offense, and we came out and played defense. Bryan Carano came through with rebounds at the end. Austin Morgan, J.J. Mulligan, they all came through."
Mulligan scored 17 for the Huskies, while Austin added 10.
Bishop Gorman and Rancho advanced to the state championships from the South.