DIVISION III BOYS: Strong start carries Mustangs to championship

RENO — Ethan Fridman was confident his senior basketball season wasn't going to end like his junior year did.

He and his teammates at The Meadows made sure of that on Saturday at UNR's Lawlor Events Center.

The Mustangs hounded Yerington from the start and rolled to a 56-38 win over the Lions for the Division III boys state basketball title.

"Last year was just the fuel for the fire for this year," said Fridman, referring to the team's 57-48 loss to Agassi Prep in last season's state final. "We knew that we were not going to lose this game. We knew we were going to punch them in the mouth right away and put them away early."

That's exactly what the Mustangs (27-3) did, jumping out to an 18-4 lead after one quarter.

"It's the message every game; you want to come out strong," The Meadows coach Gary Hannig said. "But really against this team, because I felt we could break them if we came out with a quick start and just jumped on them and then just grinded away for the rest of the game."

Junior Asheesh Chopra had eight first-quarter points, and fellow junior Jake Epstein hit two 3-pointers in the opening period. But it was the team's defense that made the difference. Yerington was just 1-for-6 from the field in the opening quarter and turned the ball over six times. The Lions were 13-for-47 (27.7 percent) from the field for the game.

"The entire season our defense has been monumental," said senior center Max Hisatake, who had 12 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two steals. "We've just been continuing to hound teams, get in their stuff and really work them."

While The Meadows cooled down offensively in the second quarter, the defense stayed strong. Yerington trailed 27-13 at the half, and no player had more than two points.

"They were a team that went 14-0 in league, and no one really gave it to them," Hisatake said. "They just had a bunch of scrubs they had to play against, and they didn't really expect us to come out and punch them in the mouth. And we knew if we could punch them in the mouth, they wouldn't have a chance against us, because we're a much better team."

The Meadows stretched its lead to 24 after a 3-pointer by Chopra made it 46-22 with 1:31 to go in the third quarter. Although the Mustangs turned the ball over 11 times in the fourth quarter, the deficit was too big to make up.

Epstein finished with 21 points, six rebounds and five steals, and Chopra scored 13 for the Mustangs, who won their first state title since 2007.

"We've been to the tournament four of the last five years, and we've come up short every year," Hannig said. "We wanted to come win. We weren't coming to compete."

Fridman, the team's other senior starter, had just two points, but did a good job handling the ball against pressure and finished with five assists.

"Ethan and Max have been with me for four years," Hannig said. "They're my guys. It's going to be sad losing them, but I'm happy for them that they got to win a state championship before they left."

Hisatake said that although most of the players are the same, it's an entirely different squad than it was last season.

"Last year, although we're the same team, effort wise and execution wise we're a completely different team," Hisatake said. "We've grown so much as a team this year. Last year was a lot of individuals, and this year we're more of a team."