I-A BOYS: Desert Pines nets rematch with Clark

Yet, there were Curtis Henderson and Jordan Simon going head first for a loose ball with less than two minutes remaining.

“Effort and energy. That’s something we’ve tried to improve throughout the course of the year,” Jaguars coach Mike Uzan said. “When we do that kind of stuff, it pumps the whole team up. It gets us going. It’s something that we reward in practice and we reward after the game.”

Desert Pines put out maximum effort on defense Friday, and the Jaguars overwhelmed South Tahoe 53-33 in a Division I-A state semifinal at Reno High.

The Jaguars (22-8) advance to play two-time defending state champion Clark (21-9) in the title game at 8:10 p.m. today at UNR’s Lawlor Events Center. Desert Pines, the Southern Region champion, lost to Clark in the state final last season.

“It’s unfinished business,” Uzan said. “We’ve got to finish. We know we’ve got one more.”

Greg Floyd had 18 points to lead Desert Pines, and Capri Uzan scored 16. The 6-foot-9-inch Floyd was a matchup nightmare for South Tahoe (14-16), as the versatile junior made four 3-pointers and also was able to drive past the Vikings’ post players after drawing them away from the basket.

South Tahoe, which entered having won seven of its past eight games, led 2-0 before the Jaguars answered with an 11-0 run and never trailed again.

“We jumped out and we were lucky to get out to a good start and maintain the lead,” Mike Uzan said.

Floyd scored his team’s final seven points of the second quarter to give the Jaguars a 26-16 halftime lead, and the margin stayed at double digits the rest of the way.

South Tahoe shot 29.2 percent from the field overall and was 5-for-25 in the second half.

Denzel Perez, with 13 points, was the only Vikings’ scorer in double figures.

“We pride ourselves on (defense),” Mike Uzan said. “That’s been who we are all season. We preach that all the time, and that’s us.”

Simon finished with eight points, six rebounds and three steals for Desert Pines, and Trevon Abdullah, a UNR commit for the class of 2017, supplied six points and 10 rebounds.

Bryan Penn-Johnson provided the game’s most memorable highlight when he threw down a left-handed dunk early in the fourth quarter to put Desert Pines on top 42-23.

About the only negative for the Jaguars was their 10-for-21 effort from the free-throw line.

Clark 54, Elko 37 — James Bridges, Darius Jackson and Trey Woodbury led a balanced offense with 11 points apiece, and the Chargers shut down the Indians.

It is the third time in four years that Clark has ousted Elko at the state tournament.

Clark held the Indians without a point for the opening 6:15 and went up 24-6 midway through the second quarter when Keyshawn Webb went coast to coast after a steal. Dustin Baum hit a 40-footer at the buzzer for Elko, but the Chargers led 29-12 at halftime.

The Indians were limited to four field goals in the first half, all 3-pointers.

“First half, I thought we were terrific in all aspects of defense,” Clark coach Chad Beeten said. “In the second half, I thought we played fine defense, we just didn’t rebound that well. We lost a little focus defensively the second half.

“Sometimes that happens when you get a big lead like that, but we figured out how to keep enough distance that we were able to win the game and keep it somewhat comfortable.”

Elko got as close as 38-25 late in the third quarter after a 7-0 run before Jackson’s slam dunk off an inbounds play. The Chargers led by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter.

Baum led Elko with 12 points on four 3-pointers.

“I was honestly worried because they’re so well coached offensively that we knew we had to play defense for long periods of time,” Beeten said.” We knew what they were going to run, but sometimes that’s not enough. Sometimes the kids actually have to execute it, and they did, and that was the big part.”