Reno boys win first state title since 1963

Editor's Note: This story was provided by NevadaPrep.Com

The Reno High boys basketball team routed Rancho 87-63 on Friday night in the NIAA 4A State finals for the first state title won by a Northern Nevada-based school since Carson won it in 1975.

J.J. Mulligan had 19 points, Mike Nelson 18, Kyle Elliot 17 and Roman Van Allen 16 with 11 assists as the Huskies earned the school's first state title in boys basketball since 1963. Mulligan had nine rebounds as the Huskies (27-3) dominated the boards 35-22, shot 67 percent from the field and limited Rancho (23-7) to 41.7 percent shooting.

Just as there was nothing unmitigated about the outcome, there was nothing complicated about the Huskies' tactical approach.

They used their agility to dominate the boards against the smaller Rams and deny them clear outlet passes to trigger their transition game. And they took advantage of the fact Rancho had to crash multiple players to the boards to make up for their height disadvantage. Mulligan, Nelson and Bryan Carano outletted the ball to Van Allen, who either dribbled through or passed over the midcourt void, and Huskies big and small beat the Rams down the floor to fill the fast-break lanes and convert the layups and putbacks.

With weakside help from the forwards, Van Allen - who transformed himself from complementary point guard to game-changer in this postseason - neutralized Rancho point guard Ariece Perkins, who went for 32 points against Hug. Perkins had 16 points, but made only 6 of 18 shots and had to manufacture most of those on his own as the Rams became increasingly stagnant on offense as their deficit mounted.

Reno led 34-28 at the half and scored the first basket of the second half before Rancho went on a 7-0 run to pull within 36-35. The Huskies answered with a 12-0 burst of their own, to which Nelson contributed a three-point play and a layup. Mulligan's 3-pointer with 3:14 left in the third quarter pushed Reno's lead to 48-35, and the Rams never drew closer than eight points thereafter.