Viking guard John Giannoni III nailed a clutch three-pointer with 3 minutes, 17 seconds left to rally the South Tahoe High boys basketball team to a 64-54 victory at Reno on Wednesday night.

Giannoni led the Vikings with 16 points, including a pair of second-half treys that seemed to come at ideal times for the Northern Nevada 4A Division II regular season champions. South Tahoe (20-5) outscored Reno 21-7 in the decisive final quarter – and 41-19 in the second half – posting several quick buckets off Huskies turnovers.

Giannoni followed his fourth-quarter three with an easy layup as the Vikings were able to gut it for the duration against a foul-plagued Reno team. The Vikings trailed by as many as 15 in the first half, and appeared out of sync at times. Reno stifled the Vikes half-court offense, alternating between 1-2-2 and man-to-man defensive schemes.

South Tahoe trailed 35-24 after two periods, but clawed back into contention on the strength of some aggressive defense and timely shooting. A Giannoni three-pointer cut the Reno lead to 10 with 4 minutes left in the third. Tim Sprinkles sank a pair of free throws and Matt Williams connected on a 15-footer to make it a 41-35 game a minute later. Josh David added a layup at the 2:00 mark to drop the margin to four, but the two teams traded baskets to make it 47-43 after 24 minutes.

The Vikings struggled in the first half en route to an 11-point halftime deficit. South Tahoe converted just 6 of 19 from the field and missed all six of their first-half three-point attempts. Free throws kept the Vikes within striking distance, as the division champs sunk 12-of-17 attempts.

The Northern Nevada 4A zone tournament begins Feb. 17. South Tahoe will host a first-round game against either Sparks or Elko, both Division I teams.

South Tahoe will wrap up the regular season at home against Fallon Friday night. The Vikings beat the Greenwave 58-39 in their last meeting. Fallon is 5-6 in division and must win against the Vikings if they are to entertain any postseason hopes.

South Tahoe Girls Basketball:

In other hoops action, the South Tahoe girls basketball team had it tough in a 92-35 loss at Reno Wednesday night.

The Senators flirted with the century mark, reaching 54 points at halftime and 72 at the end of three quarters.

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