It's called winning ugly, but the Dayton boys basketball team couldn't be happier because it is back in first place.
The Dust Devils used a strong effort defensively and on the boards to beat North Tahoe 49-41 on Saturday at home.
Coupled with Spring Creek's loss at Yerington, the Dust Devils moved back into first in the Northern 3A at 7-3. Spring Creek fell to 6-3.
The regular season champion will host the Northern 3A playoffs.
The Dust Devils will play at home against Truckee on Monday and Yerington Wednesday and then will play at Spring Creek on Friday and at Lowry on Saturday.
"We're set up for a huge week," Dayton coach Rob Streeter said. "It all comes down to this week. It's anybody's race, but we're extremely happy to be a half-game in first place."
Dayton was coming off a 57-49 loss to Incline on Friday in which it committed 27 turnovers. The Dust Devils committed 23 turnovers against North Tahoe, but controlled the boards, outrebounding the Lakers 32-17. In a loss to North Tahoe earlier in the year, Dayton was outrebounded by the Lakers by 17 rebounds. "We're extremely happy with how we defended," Streeter said.
The Dust Devils led 28-25 going into the fourth quarter and were still clinging to a three-point lead with three minutes left. But North Tahoe was hit with a technical foul and Trent Wood hit both foul shots. That ignited a 10-0 run in just a minute that gave Dayton a 12-point lead.
Dayton led by as much as 15. The final margin was due to two late three-pointers by North Tahoe.
Another difference came from the foul line, where Dayton hit 24-of-38, including 18-of-26 in the second half. Josh Wagoner scored nine of his 11 points in the fourth quarter and he finished 9-of-12 from the line.
Wood scored nine points and Josh Aaker added eight points. The 6-foot-2 Aaker also played strong defense against North Tahoe's 6-9 post player, holding him to nine points.