Dayton rallies past Yerington

Travis Wood hit three key three-pointers in the fourth quarter to spark a rally as the Dayton boys basketball team came back to win 58-52 at Yerington on Wednesday.

Yerington led 42-41 going into the fourth quarter before Wood helped to rally Dayton (19-3, 12-0 in the Northern 3A). Wood scored 14 points, hitting four threes.

Dayton coach T.W. Cunningham also said rebounding and defense was also a key to the fourth quarter rally.

"They're playing well right now," said Cunningham about Yerington. "We just finally started blocking out better and playing better defense."

Yerington (19-6) and fell to 8-4 in league. Spring Creek was also 8-4 heading into its game on Wednesday against Lowry (7-5).

The top two teams in the regular season will receive byes in the Northern 3A playoffs. If the Lions don't beat out Spring Creek for second, they're in a strong position for third because they have swept Lowry.

That would be key even if Yerington doesn't receive a first round bye because a third place finish would mean it would avoid a possible meeting with Dayton until the finals. The top two teams at zone will advance to the NIAA 3A State Championships.

"Hopefully we'll be able to see them one more time," said Yerington coach Daron Wildermuth about another possible meeting with Dayton. "I'd like to play Dayton again, but I'd like to play them in the zone championship obviously."

Wildermuth said turnovers helped lead to his team's downfall. "It was a great game but oh well," Wildermuth said. "We just came up short. It was tough. We had an opportunity to win it."

Jacob Jones led Dayton with 18 points, Mike Vincent scored 10 points and Erik Hopper added eight points. Garey Smith scored 16 points, James Roberts had 12 points and Casey Wildermuth added 10 points for Yerington.