Legacy was closing in on winning the Class 4A girls basketball state championship when Trista Mabry scored a layup off a turnover in the final seconds.
It was fitting, because Mabry did a little bit of everything to help the Longhorns get the title.
Mabry had 18 points, 12 rebounds, seven steals and three blocks, and Legacy, the Southern Region champion, defeated Northern champion Reno High 51-44 for the title Saturday at Cox Pavilion.
“Trista does it all,” Legacy coach Tiffany Richardson said. “I tell her — rebounds, blocks, steals, assists — she’s probably the complete basketball player, and she has a 4.9 GPA. That’s crazy to me.”
It’s the first girls basketball state title for Legacy (27-7). The Longhorns got redemption after last year’s playoffs when they lost in the Southern Region title game to Canyon Springs and lost to eventual state champion Bishop Manogue in the state semifinals.
With Legacy returning most of its team, Richardson said she reminded her players that there was a reason that they were back.
“I told them before the game that we’re the only team that’s back in the tournament from last year,” Richardson said. “No Spanish Springs, no Bishop Manogue, no Canyon Springs. I go, ‘Girls, we deserve this. Let’s go out and prove that we earned it. We put in the work and we deserve it.’”
It wasn’t easy against Reno (24-5) after Legacy played “the worst first half offensively,” Richardson said.
Legacy’s defense kept Reno in check for the first quarter, but the Longhorns couldn’t stretch their lead and held a 6-5 advantage after the first eight minutes.
Mabry’s 3-pointer gave the Longhorns a 13-7 lead, but Reno closed the quarter on a 10-2 run and took a 17-15 lead at halftime.
Then Laila Gines got going for Legacy in the third quarter. She hit a pair of transition 3-pointers and scored a layup off a turnover to put the Longhorns up 31-22.
Reno didn’t go away. Freshman Brookesly Wilson, the Huskies’ leading scorer (16.1 points per game), was held quiet in the first half with two points but had 10 points in the third quarter to help Reno trail 33-32 going into the fourth quarter.
Gines stepped up again, scoring four points during an 8-0 run, and Mabry went 6-for-8 at the free-throw line down the stretch to help the Longhorns clinch the win.
“Laila got going. She was beating herself up pretty badly, and even yesterday, she couldn’t get going,” Richardson said. “I told her, ‘Laila, go out there and play your game.’ Her game drives me nuts sometimes, but that’s what she needs to do.”
Gines finished with 12 points, and Alabama Nieves scored 10 for the Longhorns. Wilson scored 21 points for the Huskies.
The win was Richardson’s first state title in 18 years of coaching. It was extra special as the former Lady Rebels player celebrated on UNLV’s court.
“It feels pretty good,” Richardson said. “Eighteen years I’ve been doing this, I think it feels pretty good, and I played for UNLV, and to do it on this court, it’s pretty crazy.”
Other state title games
2A boys
No. 1N Incline 55, No. 1S Needles 50: At Cox Pavilion, the Highlanders (23-6) handed the Mustangs (31-1) their lone defeat of the season to win the state title. It’s the sixth championship for Incline, which lost to Needles in last year’s title game.
2A girls
No. 1S Needles 48, No. 2S Lincoln County 25: At Cox Pavilion, the Mustangs (25-3) held the Lynx (21-10) scoreless in the second quarter en route to their second straight 2A title and fifth overall.
1A boys
No. 1W Smith Valley 51, No. 2W Virginia City 49: At Cox Pavilion, the Bulldogs (27-2) edged the Muckers (24-4) to win the program’s second state title.
1A girls
No. 1W Pyramid Lake 50, No. 1E Eureka 34: At Cox Pavilion, the Lakers (27-5) raced to a 15-point halftime lead and never looked back on their way to winning their third straight 1A title. Eureka finished 24-3.
Contact Alex Wright at [email protected]. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
