DIVISION I BOYS: O’Bannon, Gaels start fast, roll to fifth straight title

RENO — Bishop Gorman's Charles O'Bannon Jr. missed his first shot and his first free throw Friday night.

It took awhile before the junior swingman missed again.

In a game that had all the suspense of a historical re-enactment, O'Bannon had 19 of his 26 points in the first quarter as the Gaels rolled to an 83-63 win over Coronado for the Division I state title at UNR's Lawlor Events Center. It was the fifth consecutive large-school state title for Gorman (25-7).

"It was a great start," said O'Bannon, who had seven points during a 15-0 run to open the game. "Coach told us in order for us to win the game, we had to punch them in the mouth at the beginning. So that's what we came out to do. That's all we were focused on, get a big lead at the beginning and then just carry over the rest of the game."

Rice said getting off to a strong start was the focus in pregame discussions. The team responded, taking a 25-6 lead after one quarter, and the outcome was never in doubt.

"We haven't played real well in the first half in the playoffs," Gorman coach Grant Rice said. "So we wanted to make a statement, kind of come out real strong and get fired up."

Coronado (22-5) double-teamed Gorman 7-footer Zach Collins on the game's first possession. Collins got the ball to O'Bannon, who missed the shot, but got his own rebound and was fouled. He missed the first free throw, but hit the second. He made his next nine field goals.

"Chuck was amazing," Rice said. "It was kind of a replay of the first time we played Coronado back in December. They really tried to take Zach out of it and double-team him with their size. Chuck, I know he had over 30 in December, and he was just as good tonight. He was so good they had to go to a box-and-one in the second half."

O'Bannon hit a pair of long 3-pointers from the left wing early in the second quarter, the second pushing the team's lead to 31-8. On the next possession, he took an alley-oop pass from Christian Popoola and drove home the dunk for a 33-8 lead with 5:55 to go in the first half.

"Chuck, he's been hitting big shots all season," Popoola said. "I was happy to pass it to him, add up my assists."

Coronado closed the second quarter on an 11-4 run to pull within 40-19 at the half. But the second half brought more of the same onslaught from Gorman, which led by as much as 31 in the third quarter.

A transition dunk by O'Bannon with 6:51 to go pushed the lead to 68-38, and Gorman took its biggest advantage at 74-40 after a free throw by Popoola with 4:55 to go. The Gaels emptied their bench after that, and Coronado was 8-for-10 from the field in the fourth quarter to make the final score appear much closer than the game really was.

"I'm really proud of these guys," said Rice, whose team graduated two McDonald's All Americans after last season. "A lot of people thought losing some of the guys we did last year, it would be tough to get back up here. And it was tough. We had some battles along the way. But I couldn't be more proud of this group. This was a great, fun team to coach."

Popoola had 16 points and nine assists, and Collins finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Byron Frohnen had 12 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots for the Gaels.

"Christian Popoola was really good," Rice said. "He really turned it up in the playoffs. We had a lot of contributions from a lot of guys."

Nick Davis led Coronado with 18 points. Kennedy Koehler added 14 points and nine rebounds, and Jake DesJardins had 13 points for the Cougars, who were making their first state-tournament appearance.

O'Bannon and company were happy to keep their state tournament streak alive.

"It's our biggest goal of the season every season, and the fact that we got it means a lot for us," O'Bannon said.

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at 702-380-4587 or dseiters@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters