RENO - Twice before, Galena had led in the second half against Reed and lost the game. The Grizzlies weren't about to let it happen again.
Galena scored the game's first 10 points and built a 19-point lead en route to a 58-47 win over Reed Friday night before an overflow crowd in the 4A Regional semifinals at Reno High.
The victory sends Galena (23-8) into the regional finals tonight at 6 against Bishop Manogue, a 70-64 winner over Reno in the other semifinal. Galena defeated Carson in the regional finals two years ago.
Two big keys to the win, according to Galena coach Tom Maurer, were rebounding and playing solid defense on Kevin Berry and Sean Sims. Galena won the rebounding battle 32-26, and held Sims (1-for-10, 3 points) and Berry (4-for-11, 8 points) to a combined 11 points.
"We did a great job on the boards," Maurer said. We didn't let them get the second and third shot.
"We fired up on both Sims and Berry anytime they got over halfcourt. I think it confused Sims. He killed us the first two games. We wanted Berry to shoot shots that he normally wouldn't shoot."
Another thing that helped Galena is that Reed's 6-foot-7 center Andrew Jones picked up two fouls in the first 3 minutes 6 seconds, and that forced him to play tentative much of the game. Jones had five of his team-high 11 in the final period, and Berry had six of his eight in the final eight minutes.
Galena exploited Reed's interior defense from the outset, scoring the game's first 10 points. It didn't matter whether Reed pressed, trapped or played man-to-man. Galena had the answers.
Freshman Luke Babbitt (19 points) had the first and last basket of the surge. On the latter bucket, Babbitt took a lob pass from point guard Chad Seidenstricker and scored easily. Derek Lorenzen added a basket and two free throws.
"We came out with a lot of energy," Lorenzen said. "I thought we came out pretty hard."
Brad Peterson and Jones broke the ice with consecutive baskets, and then Eric Maupin scored two straight hoops and Lorenzen added one to give Galena a 16-4 lead after one period.
Maupin's play was critical to the Grizzlies' success, according to Maurer. Maupin scored 10 points, all on lay-ups.
"He played very aggressive," Maurer said. "He redeemed himself. The last time we played them it was a packed house, and he looked up into the stands and was afraid."
Galena continued to shoot a high percentage in the second quarter, building its lead to 15 three different times (21-6, 25-10, 27-12) before Reed's Kyle Walters drained a three-pointer to make it 27-12 at halftime.
Galena shot 12 for 21 in the opening half, and out-rebound Reed 19-8, including six on the offensive glass. Reed shot just 30.1 in that span.
The Grizzlies kept up the pressure in the third quarter, outscoring Reed 13-4 in a five-minute stretch. Again, Galena was able to finish plays inside against the Raiders.
Lorenzen scored in transition, and Maupin and Babbitt scored on lay-ups. Lorenzen knocked down two free throws to make it 35-19 with 3:19 remaining. Seidenstricker converted a three-point play, Jones countered with two free throws and Babbitt hit a turnaround from the right side to stretch the lead to 40-21 with 52.1 left.
The lead climbed to 22 (47-25) with 6:51 left in the game when Reed scored eight straight, trimming the lead to 14, and you had to wonder if Galena was going to fold at that point like it had two other times. A 10-4 run by Galena upped the lead back to 56-37 and cemented the win.
Maurer felt the key was to keep the lead at 12 or more.
"I wanted to keep it at a 12-point game; four possessions," Maurer said. "They could explode at any time."
Reed did score 24 points in the fourth quarter, but had dug itself such a big hole it wasn't nearly enough. The Raiders were forced to foul down the stretch, and the only reason the game was as close as it was is that Galena went cold at the line, missing nine shots.
Darrell Moody can be reached at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281
