Clark knows Elko comes before rematch

Anyone who has remotely followed Division I-A boys basketball this season would agree that Saturday's Southern Region final was a preview of the state championship game.

But don't tell that to Clark coach Chad Beeten. At least not yet.

"You can't play Desert Pines unless you beat Elko," Beeten said.

Clark (20-9), the two-time defending state champions, will look to rebound from its 47-42 loss to the Jaguars in the region final when its faces Northern Region champ Elko (23-3) in a Division I-A state semifinal at 8 p.m. today at Reno High School.

Desert Pines (21-8) will play South Tahoe (14-15) in the other semifinal at 4:40 p.m.

The Division III state tournament starts at 11 a.m today at Lawlor Events Center, and the Division IV state tournament begins at 3 p.m. today at Reed High School.

"We've actually talked about that a lot," Beeten said about not looking past Elko. "When we lost to Desert Pines in the state final (four seasons ago), we kind of overlooked Elko (in the semifinals). We won, but we didn't play particularly well. And the following year, I think Desert Pines overlooked them and lost."

It will be the first time since the 2012-13 season that the Chargers, who are making their fourth consecutive state tournament appearance, enter as a No. 2 seed. Clark beat Elko in the state semifinals that year and also topped the Indians the following year in the state final.

"Our preparation hasn't been a whole lot different," Beeten said. "I've just been focused on the final four and the last couple of games. We're trying to get Saturday out of our minds and just get better from it. We're fortunate it wasn't a do-or-die situation. ...

"Elko is a very good team, and they're well coached. We're definitely familiar with them because we've either seen or played them (the past few years). They have some carry-over players. We know what they do and how they do it."

Clark entered the Southern Region final at Desert Pines on a 15-game win streak, last losing to Mountain View (Arizona) 64-55 on Dec. 31. Beeten hopes that was just a minor setback.

"We've just got to get back to what we were doing before the Desert Pines game," said Beeten, whose team shot 31.8 percent in the loss to Desert Pines. "That's playing great defense and executing well on offense. And hopefully we make some shots as well."

The Chargers will have a completely different look than in year's past. Eleven of Beeten's 15 players are underclassmen, including five freshmen.

Three of those freshmen — Ian Alexander, Jalen Hill and Antwon Jackson — play significant minutes.

"I told them they're not freshmen anymore," Beeten said. "We have 30 games under our belt. Truth be told, they never played or acted like freshmen. They've made freshman mistakes, but they all have really good basketball IQs and have been very well coached in younger ages."

But the key contributions will still come from seniors Darius Jackson and Keyshaun Webb. Jackson recently was voted the I-A Southern League's co-Most Valuable Player with Desert Pines' Capri Uzan, and Webb was named a first-team All-Southern Region selection.

Beeten said it's been more than their play that has helped Clark get to this point.

"Their leadership has been tremendous," he said. "That's how we've been successful with such a young team.

"I hear myself in them. That's good and bad. For the most part it's been good. The messages they're sending have made my job a lot easier. We're trying to make a young group of kids follow along and do the things they need to do."

Contact reporter Ashton Ferguson at aferguson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0430. Follow him on Twitter: @af_ferguson