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Douglas takes heavily favored Vikings to the wire

Tribune News Service

MINDEN – It wasn’t pretty, but the South Tahoe High Vikings can now focus on the Galena Grizzlies.

The Douglas High School boys basketball team nearly pulled off the upset of the season Tuesday, but the powerful Vikings kept their composure down the stretch and escaped from the Tigers’ den with a 48-45 victory in a Class 4A tilt.

The Tigers had several chances to take the lead in a defensive third-quarter but couldn’t knock down any one of the many good looks at the basket they had. The Vikings jumped out to a seven-point lead early in the fourth quarter and then made 11-of-14 attempts from the foul line to seal the win. Still, it was a major confidence builder for Douglas, a team which suddenly finds itself playing as well as any team in Division II.



“The kids did a good job. When they do what they’re supposed to do, they make the coach look good,” said Douglas coach Aubrey McCreary. “I’m proud of their effort, but at the same time we still lost the game. I hope it’s not false confidence, but we are playing better.”

The Vikings (19-4, 8-0) will play host to defending zone champion Galena on Saturday at 7 p.m. Douglas slipped to 4-3 in league and 11-9 overall.



South Tahoe led 23-14 in the middle of the second quarter, but the Tigers clawed their way back to within three points, 27-24, by halftime. Douglas eventually cut the lead to one, 29-28, with 5:21 left in the third quarter when John Dunbar scored inside.

South Tahoe came up empty on their next three possessions, but Douglas did as well and couldn’t get the lead. Douglas had two more chances to take the lead late in the quarter, but it turned the ball over and then missed a good look from the perimeter.

Douglas held the potent Vikings to four field goals in the second half and a 2-for-13 shooting performance from the field in the third quarter.

“We just didn’t execute offensively,” South Tahoe coach Tom Orlich said. “Defensively, we pretty much did some things and that was a big difference. A lot of credit has to go to Douglas.”

Douglas turned the ball over on its opening four possessions of the fourth quarter. South Tahoe took advantage of the miscues and extended its lead to 37-30 with 3:37 left.

The Tigers didn’t buckle, but the Vikings made more than enough free throws in the final 2:51 to hold on.

Alan Case, who scored nine of his game-high 16 points in the first quarter, made 5-of-6 attempts from the foul line in the final minutes. Aaron Buckman added 11 points, Casey Dowling had nine, including three free throws in the final 48 seconds, and Greg Bruso chipped in six points.

South Tahoe was 16-for-47 from the field, including 1-of-11 from three-point range, and 15-for-20 from the line. The Vikings, who came up with seven offensive rebounds in the opening 6:46 of the game and in the process scored eight second-chance points to take an early 13-6 lead, also had a 36-27 advantage on the boards.

Scott Warner led Douglas with 14 points, and John Dunbar added 11.

Douglas was 19-for-48 from the field, including 4-for-11 from three-point range, and 3 of 6 from the line.

South Tahoe beat Douglas by 43 points just three weeks ago.

“We probably missed five or six easy shots,” McCreary said. “I think our effort mentally and physically was much better this time.”

YERINGTON 88, WHITTELL 72

Jason Talbot, Tad Williams and Nate Landa combined to put the Yerington High boys basketball team in the fast lane to an 88-72 Class 3A Division II victory at home against Whittell ON Tuesday night.

Talbot scored a game-high 25 points, Williams hit for 22 with four 3-pointers and Landa contributed 13 points and 10 assists as the Lions improved their division record to 5-1 (13-9 overall) and retained their share of first-place.

Joe Rodriguez scored 18 points with five 3-pointers and Dusty Apocotos added 18 to lead Whittell offensively. Adrian Norman also scored 11 points, including a pair of treys for the Warriors.

Williams scored 11 points in the first quarter to help stake Yerington to a 22-18 lead.

GIRLS

YERINGTON 67, WHITTELL 41

Sophomore Letitia Talbot scored 24 points and senior guard Michelle Keats added 19 with five 3-pointers as Yerington evened its third-place division record at 3-3 (9-9 overall).

Yerington led 17-12 after one quarter and 34-20 at halftime.

Caitlin Fagan scored 17 to lead Whittell and Sarah Sufka added 14. Amber Weiss had eight points and a team-high nine rebounds. Jen Miles added eight boards.

DOUGLAS 82, SOUTH TAHOE 52

A game against the South Tahoe Vikings was just what the Douglas High School girls basketball team needed.

Douglas, looking to keep its playoff hopes alive, ran roughshod over the visitors from the lake.

The Tigers, 3-4 in league and 9-10 overall, jumped out to a 26-9 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Vikings, 0-8 and 1-15, outscored the Tigers 31-29 in the second and fourth quarters combined, but they were outscored by a combined total of 32 points in the odd-numbered quarters. Douglas scored 34 points off layups in transition. The teams also combined for 59 turnovers.

Courtney Wilson had 17 points for South Tahoe while Casey Hydrick added nine.

Tahoe Daily Tribune E-mail: tribune@tahoe.com

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