Fernley boys head to Hug tournament after losing opener
By Robert Perea
With three new starters and six players who have very little or no varsity experience before this season, Fernley boys basketball coach Cade Knutson is trying to take a crash course on his team’s abilities and deficiencies before league play begins in January.
The first step in that process came Saturday, when the Vaqueros lost 58-47 in their season-opening game against Reno.
It was the first in what is going to be several games against high-caliber competition in the weeks leading up to league play, against teams that Knutson scheduled precisely to identify his team’s weaknesses in hopes of becoming a state tournament contender.
“When you play high level teams, you’re playing against teams that have some size and some physical abilities that are higher than maybe what we see in league on a night in, night out basis,” Knutson said. “I think you learn more losing games against good teams than you do beating teams that aren’t as talented.”
The Vaqueros hung with the Huskies and arguably outplayed them for the first half, but two big Reno runs in the second half spelled the difference.
After Sheldon Jacobson scored the first basket of the third quarter, Fernley led 27-20, but Reno responded with a 16-2 run over the next 4:01 to take a 36-31 lead. Bryce Stephens hit a 3-pointer and Jacobson made one of two free throws to bring Fernley back within 36-35, but then Reno outscored Fernley 16-4 in the final 2:18 of the third quarter and first 1:56 of the fourth to take a 52-39 lead.
In all, Reno outscored Fernley 32-12 in a stretch of 8:56 on the clock.
“I thought the second half their depth and just freshness of legs hurt us,” Knutson said. “We got tired, shots aren’t falling, we didn’t handle their pressure as well in the second half.”
Jacobson and Stephens, the team’s two returning starters, each scored 16 points for Fernley, and led the way as the Vaqueros had the lead for most of the first half. Jacobson scored 9 and Stephens had 7 as Fernley led 25-20 at the half.
“We told those two that they’re going to have to be a little bit more aggressive this year in terms of looking for their own shots,” Knutson said. “Not being selfish, but sometimes they’ve got to just go make a play. I thought in the first half they were able to do that. I think we just got a little bit tired in the second half.”
Knutson said the Vaqueros did a decent job of handling Reno’s pressure in the first half, and their ball movement and shot selection were good. But Jacobson and Stephens aside, it was the first extensive varsity experience for several Fernley players.
Knutson said he loved the way they competed, but said the Vaqueros have a lot of things to get better at.
“We just have guys that don’t have a lot of experience that need a lot of time in film sessions with us, and in practice,” he said. “We’ve got to do a lot of coaching.”
This week the Vaqueros will face four more good teams in the Basketball Tribune Showcase at Hug. Wednesday, they play at 4 p.m. against Incline, which lost in the 2A State Championship game last year. Thursday they face Huntington Beach (Calif.) at 5:30 p.m., Friday they square off against the host Hug at 7 p.m. and they finish the tournament at 11:30 a.m. Saturday against St. Bonaventure (Ventura, Calif.). The following week, they play Bishop Manogue and Spanish Springs.
But even against such a tough schedule, Knutson said the Vaqueros still expect to win.
“We don’t accept losses, it’s not something we say, that it’s okay to lose,” he said. What are we going to learn from it in film, in practice? Because what happens when you play good teams is they expose your deficiencies, and it gives you a starting point as a coach what is it that we need to work on in the next couple weeks and as we start gearing ourselves up for league play.”
