Friday, Feb. 21st, the Bishop Gorman men’s varsity basketball team won the 2025 5A Nevada State Championship for the second time in a row. The Gaels beat the Mojave High School Rattlers 71-59 at the Cox Pavilion.
The Gaels not only won the state championship but they had a winning record all season long. According to MaxPreps, Bishop Gorman had a 10-1 record in the 5A Southern league and a 24-5 record for their overall season. With that kind of record, the team was No. 1 in NV and in the top 100 teams in America.
“It’s always good and never gets old,” said head coach Grant Rice when talking about celebrating with the team on the court floor. Rice has won over 15 championships during his time as head coach for Bishop Gorman. He has also coached numerous players who have made more than an impact in the basketball community. One of them being NBA player C.J. Watson. With all of these players under his belt, Rice is still the same coach to these players as he was to the NBA stars.
Four star safety and wing Jett Washington ‘26 described how they played this big game like any other league game and that’s been the message from the coach for the whole season. Washington put 21 points on the scoreboard for the Gaels making the win a blowout. Even though their star wing missed 10 games while nursing an injury that did not stop one of the top college recruits in America to carry the Gaels in the championship game.
Senior captain Nick Jefferson ‘25 and the city’s top defender Ty Johnson ‘27 also contributed to major parts in the Gaels win. With Jefferson leading the team and Johnson putting 19 points up as a guard helped the Gaels get their back to back championship. “We believed in each other and trusted each other,” said Jefferson.
With over eight seniors leaving the Gaels varsity team, head coach Grant Rice made it clear that there is no such thing as a rebuilding year for the next season. “We have a good freshmen team and an excellent JV team and a lot of kids coming back that contributed on the varsity team…we expect to definitely compete for another state championship next year,” said Rice.
Johnson said, “it was fun playing with them, practicing with them even off of the court and making a really tight bond with them” when describing how the eight seniors are leaving the varsity team.
Yet this is no problem for Bishop Gorman. The underclassmen players plan to step into that leadership position to help guide the incoming players while saying goodbye to the graduates wishing them good luck in their college years. Washington and Johnson are ready for this role. “Every team needs a leader and being a leader takes a lot,” said Johnson.
