The Fernley High School boys basketball team won its third consecutive regional championship last Saturday and will make their fifth consecutive appearance in the state tournament, extending one of the most consistent runs in program history.
The one thing missing from that resume, however, is a state championship. Coach Cade Knutson has tried to get his team to take that next step this season by scheduling the toughest opponents he could find, including tournaments in Las Vegas and San Diego and games against top Northern 4A teams like Bishop Manogue, Spanish Springs and Reno.
“I think this all boils down to the fact that we scheduled ourselves to be ready for this time of year,” Knutson said. “We wanted to play as many difficult teams and as many close games as we could. Obviously, we want to win them all, but we wanted to be in a position where we were playing close games, so that when things get a little tight, we're not unused to it.”
The Vaqueros beat Spring Creek 51-41 in Saturday’s regional championship game. Knutson and several players all credited that nonleague schedule for preparing them for the battle they got from the Spartans. Fernley beat Spring Creek 70-26 and 66-35 during the regular season.
Spring Creek came out throwing haymakers, making four 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the game to take a 12-8 lead. Even after the Vaqueros answered that early flurry and took a 15-14 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Spartans punched right back, with a 3-pointer by Nolen Francis and a basket by Snowden Williams to go back up 19-15.
But Fernley finished the half with a 10-1 run to take a 25-20 lead. Though the Spartans stayed close throughout the second half, they never got within fewer than three and when Spring Creek was forced to foul in the final minute, the Vaqueros hit four of six free throws to ice the game.
Knutson was impressed by the improvement Spring Creek has made.
“They shot the ball really well, credit to them. They ran good sets,” Knutson said. “I think Coach (Randy) Bishop is the true Coach of the Year in this league, taking a team that loses four starters on a team that goes to state and then turning around and getting them right back to state.”
The Vaqueros reached Saturday’s championship game by beating Dayton 47-34 in the semifinals on Friday night. The Vaqueros took control early, with a 21-2 run to go ahead 22-7. Fernley led by as much as 17, but the closest Dayton got was 41-33 with 3:40 left in the game, but a basket by Bryce Dunagan-Stephens stopped Dayton’s run and the DustDevils didn’t make another field goal.
With the state tournament coming up this week, senior Sheldon Jacobson said the Vaqueros would take one day to enjoy what they’ve accomplished, before turning their attention to trying to win a state championship.
Knutson echoed those sentiments.
“Really proud of our guys and our seniors, in particular, for what they've already accomplished, but all of our goals are still in front of us,” Knutson said. “We've got to try and clean up as much as we can and put ourselves in, you know, the best position to be successful next weekend.”
Comment
Comments