Staff Reports
After losing four starters from last year's team, it looked like the Dayton High boys basketball team would be hard pressed to make a return trip to the NIAA 3A State Championships. But the Dust Devils thought otherwise.
Dayton finished as the state runners-up last year and will be back in the state tournament this season after beating Yerington 50-44 on Saturday in the Northern 3A's third place game at Winnemucca.
The Fernley girls basketball team will also be making a trip to the state event as it beat Manogue 35-27 in the Northern 3A's third place game.
"I'm just real proud of this year's seniors," said Dayton coach Rob Streeter about Matt Bowman, Adam Diament, Ryan Blaver, Danny Green and R.C. Remington.
Bowman was the only returning starter from last year's team and came up big against Yerington, scoring 13 points. Bowman also hit a key three-pointer with two minutes left to extend Dayton's lead from two to five points.
Diament, Blaver and Green all played key roles in the win as well. Diament scored 13 points and Blaver added nine points. Green scored four points, but his contribution came defensively.
Green has been given Dayton's toughest defensive assignments all year. Against Yerington the 5-10 Green was given the task of guarding Yerington's talented 6-5 sophomore Derek Lee.
Green held Lee to two points. "That kid just played his butt off," said Streeter about Green.
Dayton will play Rite of Passage in the state semifinals. ROP split its first two meetings with Manogue and won the third meeting on Saturday for the Northern 3A title.
The Dust Devils played well in both games against ROP this year, losing to the Rams at home 71-67 and winning 78-74 in overtime at ROP. Dayton was also able to beat ROP at full strength when it had star guard Kevin Deshields.
"We're looking forward to the challenge," Streeter said. "I'm very impressed to get back to state. That was our goal at the beginning of the year."
Dayton controlled the first half against Yerington, leading 17-6 after one quarter and 29-17 at halftime. But Yerington pulled to within 38-32 after three quarters and within two points in the final period.
After hitting 6-of-13 free throws through three quarters, Dayton hit 9-of-15 in the final period to finish 15-of-28. Diament hit 6-of-9 free throws in the fourth quarter.
"Our kids kept their composure," Streeter said. "We made our free throws down the stretch."
Danny Hopper scored nine points for Dayton. Ryan Rife scored 13 points and Dylan Johnson added 10 points for Yerington.