Father and son determined to win state championship together

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016 | 2 a.m.

The Desert Pines High basketball team was days away from playing in the state semifinals, two wins from the school’s first state championship in any sport. Part of the practice included mastering their full-court press — a suffocating defense credited with forcing the opposition into mistakes and leading to easy baskets.

On this day, the Desert Pines scout team point guard was breaking the press. He was undersized but played with confidence. He would be the point guard of the future.

Desert Pines used that tough defense to help erase a double-digit fourth quarter deficit against Clark in the 2013 state championship game, rallying for a thrilling victory in the final seconds. Desert Pines opened in 1999; this was its first title.

Desert Pines is the favorite to win another championship this week, playing South Tahoe at 4:40 p.m. Friday in the Division I-A state semifinals in Northern Nevada. Another matchup with Clark, the 2014 and 2015 state champs, could be on the horizon for Saturday at UNR’s Lawlor Events Center in the finals.

That point guard of the future, Capri Uzan, has developed into one of the city’s best players. Uzan is the son of Desert Pines coach Mike Uzan and has tagged along with his dad for years to local gyms. As an eighth-grader, he occasionally practiced with the Jaguars. In grade school, he’d sit at the end of the bench on game day and shoot baskets at halftime.

“It’s pretty cool being in this spot (with him),” said Capri Uzan, now a junior.

Uzan made a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers last Saturday in Desert Pines’ Division I-A Southern Region championship game victory against Clark to lead all scorers with 20 points. Often when he makes a 3-pointer, he’ll hold three fingers in the air to celebrate the make. And when he scores on a dribble drive to the basket, he frequently returns to the defensive end with a little swagger in step.

Don’t mistake his confidence for cockiness. He's determined to be the best player on the court and constantly feels there is something to prove because he’s just 5-foot-11. That’s especially true against Clark in one the state’s best basketball rivalries.

When it came to playing Clark, he had limited success — same for his teammates. After Desert Pines won in 2013, the year before Uzan got into the program, he couldn’t help but think they’d win the state championship every season. But in 2014, they managed just 47 points in losing to Elko in the state semifinals. Last season, Uzan had 10 points in a loss to Clark in the championship game.

They had played Clark three times in the past two seasons, losing each game. With each loss, father rarely had harsh words for son. He knows the difference between yelling and coaching, which explains why Desert Pines is one of Southern Nevada’s perennial powers.

“He has a big burden on his shoulders, especially being the coach’s son,” Mike Uzan said. “I try not to put anymore pressure on him.”

Capri Uzan isn’t the lone reason Desert Pines is back in state-championship contention. The Jaguars had an extremely young team the past two seasons, and players such as junior forwards Greg Floyd Jr. and Trevon Abdullah have blossomed into major college recruits. Abdullah is a UNR commit; Floyd has offers from a who’s who of programs. All three are juniors.

They are here to stay — well, if they can get past Clark again.

“Seeing the seniors the past two years go down in the state championship game and fall short, that leaves a burning feeling inside me,” Capri Uzan said. “I know how bad they wanted to win. We want to experience that feeling of winning a championship.”

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21