Dayton, Yerington boys, Galena teams all win

The showdown for first in the Northern 3A turned into a laugher as the Dayton boys basketball team beat Lowry 57-47 on Friday at home.

Dayton improved to 6-0 in league while Lowry fell to 6-1. The game wasn't that close as the Dust Devils led by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter.

Still, Dayton coach T.W. Cunningham said his team can play even better. "It was good for 3 1/2 quarters," said Cunningham about his team's defense.

"Offensively we took a lot of bad shots. We've still got plenty of stuff we can improve on and get better at."

Dayton led 34-21 at halftime. Travis Wood scored 23 points, Mike Vincent had 15 ponits and Erik Hopper added 11 points for the Dust Devils.

GALENA BOYS 84, SPANISH SPRINGS 45

Galena improved to 4-0 in the High Desert League with one of its best all-around games of the year.

"I'm extremely, extremely happy with the way we played," Galena coach Tom Mauer said.

The Grizzlies jumped out to a 27-7 lead after one quarter and led 52-20 at halftime.

Galena had just nine turnovers and also forced numerous turnovers with its pressure.

"I don't know how many turnovers we created," Mauer said. "I thought more than 50 percent of our points were from turnovers created and to me that's good high school basketball."

Mauer said he was also pleased with his team's unselfish play as he estimated it had 20-25 assists.

"I've just got no qualms," Mauer said. "They showed a ton of energy. When you have a ton of energy, good things happen."

Luke Babbitt and Brice Crook each scored 23 points, J.D. Peters had 11 points and Brad Bosse added nine points for Galena, which next plays this Friday at Elko.

YERINGTON 56, SPRING CREEK 54

Yerington (16-3) kept pace in the Northern 3A race, winning on Gary Smith's buzzer beater with one-tenth of a second left. Yerington improved to 5-1 in league while Spring Creek fell to 5-2.

With 3.1 seconds left Yerington went the length of the court after Tim Fitzpatrick inbounded the ball to Tyler Brown, who threw the ball to Casey Wildermuth, who sent an alley-oop pass to Smith for the game-winner.

Yerington also had to overcome the loss of its three big men as David Martinez, James Roberts and Marcus Ness all founed out with more than five minutes left. The Lions also overcame a 17-8 deficit after one quarter. Yerington trailed 30-25 at halftime and went on to take a 41-37 lead after three quarters.

"We had a big defensive quarter the third quarter," Yerington coach Daron Wildermuth said.

"We worked our way back in the third quarter and from there on it was back and forth the whole time. It was just a great game. It was definitely a big win."

Smith scored 23 points and Ness added 11 points.

GALENA GIRLS 48, SPANISH SPRINGS 44

Galena (3-1 in the High Desert League) built a 25-12 halftime lead and led by as many as 15 points, but had to hold off a Spanish Springs rally. Spanish Springs was able to close to within two points before the Grizzlies held on at the foul line. Langley Iverson scored 19 points and Haley Jensen added 17 points for Galena.

"We kind of squeezed it out," Galena coach Karen Friel said. "We made some free throws at the end.

"Any league win we'll take. Spanish Springs, they're much improved. They make you earn it, that's for sure."