By DARRELL MOODY
Nevada Appeal News Service
MINDEN - Douglas High's girls' basketball team broke in its new home uniforms with a big 54-22 season-opening win over Dayton Tuesday night.
"I liked the first half," Douglas coach Werner Christen said. "I thought we did a good job of running the floor and finishing in the first half. I don't think we missed many layups. I thought we did a good job of flying around out there on defense and staying under control.
"I didn't like the second half. It got kind of sloppy after we stopped pressuring them. We're a team that needs that (pressure defense) to get into the flow a little."
Douglas forced Dayton to cough up the ball 20 times in the first half (36 for the game), and Douglas converted those mistakes into 22 points. The outmanned Dust Devils, when they did manage to get the ball past halfcourt, hit only nine of 35 field-goal attempts
"It was a rough start," said Monica Halverson, Dayton's first-year varsity coach. "I thought we were more prepared. It's kind of sad.
"We came back and played better in the second half than we did in the first half. Actually it helps (playing a team like Douglas). We've worked real hard in practice."
Douglas started fast, ripping off the game's first 18 points against Dayton, and the defense was responsible for 12 of those points. Dayton finally scored with 34.3 left in the quarter.
Erin Brinkmeyer scored six of her eight points in the first quarter, and Julie Gingrich and freshman Dana Pardee added four apiece. Gingrich led the Tigers with 17, knocking down two three-pointers, and Pardee added 10 points and five rebounds in her varsity debut.
The Tigers, who played all 10 of their healthy players in the first half, kept up the pressure in the second quarter.
A 12-0 run, led by Gingrich's two howitzers, helped the Tigers increase their lead to 30-4 with 3:15 left in the half. After a free throw by Amanda Sbragia, the Tigers closed out the half with a putback by Pardee, a trey by Whitney Combes and a driving layup by Brittany Puzey for a 37-5 lead at the half. Puzey finished with eight points off the bench.
"I thought Julie's shot looked good," Christen said. "She played OK on offense, but she needs to work a little harder on defense. Dana had a good, solid varsity debut. She's going to have a good season."
Pardee's play drew raves from Gingrich.
"I wish I had that kind of game when I was a freshman," said the Tigers' senior forward. "It was a good first game for her."
And for the Tigers.
NOTES: Douglas played without Tammy Gough and Kellei Kizer, both of whom were suffering from the flu... Christen also praised the floor games of Brinkmeyer and Jessie Kizer...The bright spot for Dayton was the play of Maggie Williams, who scored nine points and grabbed three rebounds. Sbragia was a force on the boards, pulling down a game-high 10.