There's always something special about a playoff basketball game. That's as true today as it was 30 years ago if you were to ask Nick Pavich.
Pavich was one of Nevada's top players in the mid-1970s when he helped Whittell High School win three Northern 1A championships in four years and was twice honored as conference player of the year.
The memories are great, but then again, so was Tuesday night's first-round Northern 4A Regional Tournament game in which his daughter, Dominique, and the Galena Grizzlies came out on the short end of a 67-66 score at Douglas.
Dominique scored 23 points, 14 of which came in the third quarter when the Grizzlies rallied back from an early 10-point deficit. The 5-foot-8 junior guard hit her third three-pointer of the period at the buzzer to give Galena a 47-45 lead.
Douglas coach Werner Christen, who played high school ball at Whittell at the same time Nick did, knew this was not a player to overlook. Just consider she had five three-pointers and 23 points in Galena's December win over Western in Las Vegas, and this past Saturday, she scored 16 to help the Grizzlies secure a 58-52 playoff-clinching win against McQueen.
"Dominque is a good player," Christen said before the game. "She is someone we need to contend with if we want to win. If she gets a chance to set her feet, the shot will go down more often than not."
Just like dad.
Pavich scored 1,406 points, shot 53.3 percent from the field and 76 percent from the free throw line in four seasons at Whittell between 1973 and '76, and his 25.6 point per game average as a senior set one school record.
Whittell went 70-8 when he played during those four seasons. Of course, he wasn't alone on those Whittell teams. Jimmy Vellutato and John Summers were both hot-shot guards, as was David Hughes, and his older brother, Tony Pavich was a conference player of the year, too. The Pavich brothers - who have worked together in real estate in Reno for 26 years - and Hughes all watched Tuesday's game.
"It was old Whittell all-star night," Christen said afterward.
The Warriors of that era were very adept at lighting up scoreboards. For example, they beat Fernley 111-78 in a first-place showdown on Jan. 24, 1975. Whittell hit triple digits twice in 1976, beating NYTC (now Independence) 106-52 and Wells 105-63.
And those numbers came before the creation of the three-point arc.
"I would have loved to have had the three-point line back then," Pavich said with a grin.
Among the best of those old memories for Pavich was his game-winning shot in the 1975 state 1A tournament semifinals at the Centennial Coliseum (now the Reno-Sparks Convention Center). Whittell trailed Virgin Valley by one point with time winding down when Pavich got the ball and hit a shot over two defenders from beyond the top of the key for a 60-59 victory.
The only forgettable part came the next night when Incline beat Whittell 70-61 in the championship game before a crowd of more than 6,000 at the Coliseum. The Warriors were 25-3 that season and went 21-2 in 1975-76, only to lose 55-54 against Lincoln in their state opener in Las Vegas.
Though he never played basketball in college, Pavich spent one season with the Nevada football program and led the NCAA 1-AA in punting.
But, is it as much fun to watch the games now as it was to play back then.
Pavich hesitated before he answered.
"I don't know. We really loved to play," he said. "But that's all in the past now. It's a blast coming to watch these."
