Elko earns first trip to regional finals
Dave Price
SPANISH SPRINGS - High school basketball is a 32-minute game, and because it is, the Elko High School boys basketball team gets a chance to play for its first Northern 4A championship today.
The senior-laden Indians rebounded from a slow start and put together a big second half on their way to a come-from-behind 45-38 victory against Galena in the regional semifinals Friday night before a crowd of more than 2,000 at Spanish Springs High School.
Ryan Klekas scored 23 points and Elko (21-6) only gave up 11 second-half points to advance to the Northern 4A boys championship game for the first time ever. The Indians will play Reed/Reno in the finals today at 6 p.m. at Spanish Springs, and they are also advancing to the state tournament for the first time since 1991.
Meanwhile, Galena (20-11) lost to Elko for the third time this season and fell just short in its bid to reach the Northern 4A finals for the seventh time in eight years.
"I read before where (Elko coach Chris) Klekas said the games are 32 minutes. I was sad to learn we only played 16 tonight," Galena coach Tom Maurer deadpanned afterward.
The Grizzlies led 16-5 after one quarter and 27-21 at halftime. But coach Klekas again emphasized that the games consist of four eight-minute quarters.
"We had a bad first quarter, but it's a 32-minute game and the kids played their tails off, they stayed focused and they made some plays at the end," he said.
Galena led 27-17 after Ryan Bristol sank a pair of free throws with 2:33 remaining in the second quarter. That was the turning point of the game, however, because Elko scored 15 unanswered points during a span of 8 minutes, 33 seconds bridging the second and third quarters.
"I thought we played a great first half, but the bottom line, we didn't finish it," Maurer said. "We just lost our concentration. We struggled getting into our rotation ... we were out of sync."
Derek Lorenzen had scored 98 points in Galena's three previous games, but the 6-4 junior guard only managed to put 10 in the scorebook on a night when he was constantly hounded by Elko's Kevin Sandall.
"Kevin is 6-3, he's quick and he battles," Klekas said of the senior forward. "He did a good when we played a couple of weeks ago - he (Lorenzen) only scored nine out there - but give Derek credit, he's one heck of a player."
Galena only trailed 32-31 after Bobby Contreras scored on a putback with 1:16 left in the third quarter. Then after a timeout, Elko worked the clock down for one last shot, which Klekas banked in off the glass as time expired to make it 34-31.
Lorenzen was fouled on a 3-point attempt and converted all three of his free throws to tie the score 34-34. Elko answered as Klekas knocked down a jumper, then the 6-foot senior guard dished the ball to Sandall in the left corner for a 3-pointer that made it 39-34.
Two free throws by Lorenzen cut Elko's lead to 41-38 with 3:12 remaining, but the Grizzlies missed their final four shots of the game. Three of those shots were taken from beyond the 3-point arc and each one was closely defended.
Tyler Carroll contributed 12 points for Elko, capped by two free throws with 10.2 seconds remaining to basically put the game out of reach.
Galena was led offensively by Contreras with 12 points, including the Grizzlies' first eight points, and Iain Hill with 12.
Despite the loss, Maurer was upbeat about the way Galena's season turned out.
"When you consider we only had one guy back who had any significant playing time last year ... we did a lot more than I ever expected," he said.
