Bishop Gorman guard Ryder Elisaldez (24) takes the ball upcourt during a game at Liberty High School in Henderson Friday, Feb. 2, 2024.
Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Ryder Elisaldez has seen the banner documenting the Bishop Gorman High basketball program’s state championships hanging in the team’s locker room countless times.
He’s always envisioned having a role in adding the 23rd all-time title to the banner. Today will be his last chance.
Gorman and Coronado at 7 p.m. will play for the Class 5A championship at the Thomas & Mack Center, giving Elisaldez, a senior guard, the perfect setting to cap his unusual Gorman career.
Gorman had its state championship run halted at nine consecutive seasons in 2022 during his sophomore year. Last year, they missed the state tournament for the first time in more than 15 seasons. His freshman campaign was canceled because of COVID-19 closures.
“You walk in the locker room and you’ve got the banner saying all the years we have won,” Elisaldez said. “I know my year hasn’t been there yet. It’s time to change that.”
Most Gorman teams have been stacked with experienced players. And those players usually have been highly-touted college recruits.
This Gorman team is different: Elisaldez, who will play collegiately at the University of San Diego, is the lone player with state-championship tournament experience. That experience was pivotal Thursday in a 61-56 semifinal win against Liberty, where he scored a game-high 17 points in leading the Gaels’ late charge.
They trailed by nine points in the second half, but Elisaldez and backcourt mate Nick Jefferson rose to the occasion. They were relentless on defense to force turnovers, and turned those turnovers into transition points.
“We applied a little more pressure in the second half, and then we got out and ran in transition,” Elisaldez said. “That helped us cut the lead and eventually win the game.”
It was a different story early in the contest with Gorman being limited to four points in the first six minutes.
“We settled for some tough shots in the first quarter,” Gorman coach Grant Rice said. “We emphasized all week that you need to get to the basket, and then we were settling for outside shots.”
Part of the slow start could also be attributed to playing in a college arena, which has a different backdrop and isn’t as shooter friendly as your neighborhood high school gym. Gorman went 3 of 12 on 3-point attempts.
And, part of the early hiccups could be more obvious: Gorman’s rotation includes three freshmen playing in their first state tournament.
Take freshman Kameron Cooper, who flashed his potential with a 3-pointer in the final minutes to give Gorman the lead for good. Despite a few miscues earlier in the game, Cooper didn’t lack confidence down the stretch.
He attempted five shots and made just one — arguably the most important field goal of the game.
“I was here to play my part, and it seemed to help the team win,” Cooper said. “That’s why they put me (in the game to do): To knock down shots and do my job to help the team win.”
Cooper wasn’t the lone freshman Gorman relied on. Ilan Nikolov had three points and two steals in 22 minutes, and guard Tyler Johnson played eight minutes in the second half and was part of the defensive effort late to seal the win.
Gorman scored 19 points in the first half. In the fourth quarter alone it scored 23.
“It’s the playoffs. It’s the state tournament, so you have to throw all of the youth out of the window and just go play,” Rice said. “But we saw some of those jitters in the first quarter. But it was everyone, not just the young guys.”
One game stands in the way of Gorman returning to its place as the state’s top team. Beating Coronado won’t be easy — the Cougars topped Gorman in the regular season.
