SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - It was no surprise to see Seth Lee score 28 points for the Douglas High School boys basketball team on Friday afternoon. The good news at South Tahoe's 27th annual Viking Rotary Classic, however, were contributions from the rest of the lineup as the Tigers went on to secure a 62-49 triumph against Franklin (Stockton, Calif.).
Eight players reached the score column in the first half as Douglas surged to a 34-25 lead the Tigers never relinquished en route to their first win in three games this season.
"I'd have to say our highlight was that more guys contributed on the offensive end," Douglas coach Keith Lewis said. "Erik (Olson) was in double figures; Robby (Honer) did a good job in the post; and our point guards, Luke (Rippee) and Travis (Baker) did a good job of pushing the ball up the floor and making things happen.
"We're going to need to be more balanced as the season goes on," Lewis continued. "When we get into league, people are going to throw a lot of things at us if they see that Seth is the only one scoring for us."
Lee, a 6-foot-4 senior, scored 21 points for the Tigers in their opening-round 73-52 loss to Sheldon (Sacramento) on Thursday night. He had nine in the first quarter, while Will Thomas and Honer added four each as the Tigers took a 22-11 lead.
The Franklin Yellowjackets (0-3) were down by nine at the intermission and fought back to make the game interesting at the outset of the third quarter.
Jake Deno buried a 3-pointer from the left corner as Franklin cut the deficit to 38-36 with 3:40 left in the period. The Yellowjackets got a defensive rebound, but then squandered their ensuing possession when they missed three shots on the offensive end.
At that point, the Tigers tightened up their defense and regained control of the glass - and control of the game.
"Defensively, we started flying around more late in the third quarter and early fourth," Lewis said. "We got some good stops out our 2-2-1 press and that seemed to help get us going again."
Lee converted one of two free throws, Will Thomas knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the Douglas lead to 41-36. A steal by Lee set up an inside move for two points by Olson. Then Lee took a pass from Jared Kenison and knocked down a 3-pointer before time expired as the Tigers went up 46-38 at the end of three periods.
Franklin never got any closer than six points after that.
Olson finished with 10 points while Olson and Baker added six each for the Tigers, who shot 12-for-19 from the free throw line in the game's final 11 minutes. Josh Rayne scored 15 to lead Franklin.
Rebounding at both ends was another key for Douglas. Lee grabbed eight rebounds, Honer six and Olson five for the Tigers, who had 24 rebounds as a team.
"For the most part, I thought we rebounded well," Lewis said. "We still need to be stronger underneath, though, because there were three or four times where we secured the ball only to have somebody steal it away from us underneath."
Douglas plays either Leigh (San Jose) or tournament host South Tahoe in the tournament's consolation finals today at 3:30 p.m.
The Viking Classic championship game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The tournament includes two highly regarded Sacramento area teams: Hiram Johnson, listed No. 7 by the Sacramento Bee, and Sheldon.