What a way for Dave Papke to coach his first varsity basketball game – going up against one of the best boys teams in Northern Nevada, the Reno Huskies.

The Huskies, who feature Division I college prospects in senior Alex Gamboa and 6-foot-9 sophomore David Padgett, came up the hill and handed the Viking boys a sound 74-45 defeat.

“We got ourselves into a little trouble Friday (in a loss to Douglas),” Huskies coach Dave Christiansen said. “So we talked on Saturday and yesterday about coming out and playing a team game.”

That’s exactly what South Tahoe saw.

The Huskies had a different player step up in each quarter. In the first, Reno opened up a 13-0 lead mainly on the strong shooting of David Woods, who scored five points in quarter.

The Vikings closed the gap to 13-8 with about 3 minutes left in the opening period and ended the quarter on a 12-6 run.

“Tonight’s start has a lot to do with coach Allister being away,” Papke said. “The team is worried for him and about Reno, so it took about 5 minutes before they settled down and started to play.”

Papke was filling in for Derek Allister, who was in San Diego caring for his ailing father, according to athletic administrator Jack Stafford. The coach is expected back on the sidelines for Friday’s home game against Hug.

In the second quarter Padgett showed signs of being a major college player when he poured in 13 points to help his team pull away and end the half leading 38-19.

The Huskies never looked back. Utilizing a deep bench and the strong play of both Padgett and Gamboa, Reno opened up a 24-point difference at the end of the third quarter.

“The one thing we needed to do was get back to a ‘we’ concept,” Christiansen said. “We did that very well tonight.”

The Vikings were paced by Matt Connelly, who had 14 points.