Dayton boys basketball falls to Fallon

FALLON " Missed shots and a lot of fouls were the order of the evening at Elmo Dericco Gym on Tuesday evening.

Fortunately for Fallon, its shooting wasn't quite as cold as Dayton's, and that enabled the Greenwave to come away with a 57-34 win over the Dust Devils. Fallon improved to 1-1 on the season while Dayton dropped its season-opening game.

Forty fouls were called, an average of 1.25 per minute for the 32 minute contest. Fallon was whistled for 26 fouls " 11 in the third quarter alone " but still was able to steadily pull away from the cold-shooting Dust Devils.

Fallon led 10-5 after the first quarter, 28-10 at halftime and 43-22 after three quarters.

"The game never had a flow to it because of all the whistles," Fallon coach Corey Williams said, "but it's a win so we'll take it. It's a heck of a lot better than losing."

Baskets by Anthony Fasone and Jake Johnston gave the Greenwave an early 4-0 lead. Dayton responded with a three-pointer by Kage Walker and a basket from Marti Espinoza to take a 5-4 lead, but that would be its only lead of the game. Anthonly Tisdale responded with an inside shot to put the Wave back in front, 6-5, with 3:32 to play in the first quarter, and Fallon never trailed again. A slam dunk by Dexter Daum closed the scoring for the period and helped establish the tone for the evening.

Daum and Garrett Adams nailed three-pointers in the second quarter to spark an 18-5 Greenwave run that Dayton never recovered from. Johnston and Anthony Tisdale each scored twice and Russ Smith hit a jumper during Fallon's surge. Tanner Wood and Connor Connoy hit Dayton's only baskets for the quarter.

"The kids are doing a good job of making the extra pass and hitting the open man and I like that," Williams said, "those shots are going to fall because they're from players who should be shooting the ball. We're getting it to the players who need to be shooting, and they're going to fall. I have confidence in that."

While the shots started to fall for Fallon, they seldom did for Dayton. One Dust Devil shot after another bounced off the rim or otherwise missed.

Dayton had as many as five chances on some posessions but couldn't convert.

Fallon's inside zone defense made things tough for Dayton all evening.

"It was one of those nights," Dayton coach T.W. Cunningham said. "Too much jump shooting, way too many turnovers and missed shots. We were physically manhandled and out-hustled, especially down low."

Even with all fouls, Fallon increased its lead in the third quarter. Six points from Adams keyed the Greenwave's 17-13 advantage for the period.

Seven of Dayton's 13 points came from free throws. In the fourth quarter, Fallon hit 8-of-8 from the line as the game slowly dragged to its conclusion.

Adams led all scorers with 18 points for Fallon while Tisdale added 10 and Johnston 8 for the Greenwave. Wood scored 13 points for Dayton. Fallon's next game is on Dec. 9 at Fernley. Dayton is at home to host the annual Sutro Classic beginning on Thursday.