Dayton wins typical battle with Yerington

Courtesy of NevadaPrep.com

Rarely is it a thing of beauty when the Yerington and Dayton boys take the floor together in Northern 3A competition.

And rarely does it lack for drama.

Wednesday night in Yerington was no exception as the Dust Devils claimed a 44-42 win despite some shaky free throw shooting in the final minutes.

"Typical Yerington-Dayton game," said Yerington head coach Daron Wildermuth. "It was anybody's game at the end and nobody gave up anything easy. It wasn't a pretty game but I thought both teams played extremely hard."

Dayton's Byron Trigueros hit a pair of free throws with 35 seconds left to give Dayton its final points and a 44-40 lead. Trigueros scored all nine of his points in the second half and scored eight of Dayton's final 10 points.

But the Dust Devils turned it over and missed a pair of one and one attempts on their ensuing possessions, leaving the door open for Yerington.

The Lions' Casey Wildermuth cut the lead to 44-42 with a layup, then blocked a Dayton layup attempt and snared the loose ball, throwing ahead to Kris Smith who was fouled with 3.1 seconds remaining.

Smith missed the front end of a one and one but the Lions' James Roberts got the rebound and passed out to Wildermuth, but his three-pointer at the buzzer for the win was off target.

"Down to the wire Yerington-Dayton game," said Dayton coach T.W. Cunningham. "It was a great atmosphere, our first league game. You couldn't ask for anything more than that."

Yerington took a 26-18 halftime lead after outscoring the Dust Devils, 18-5, in the second quarter. This despite playing without their starting four man and playing much of the half without 6-foot-5 James Roberts, who picked up three fouls.

Wildermuth carried the load with eight first half points and Burke Bristol added nine, including a pair of 3s.

But Dayton chipped away in the third quarter and took a 33-32 lead in the final moments of the third quarter after a Tanner Wood steal and layup, part of a personal 6-0 run by Wood that included the first possession of the fourth quarter.

Wood finished with 12 points and Ryan Ransdell led Dayton, now 1-0 in conference, with 13.

Yerington, now 0-2 in league play, was led by Wildermuth's 14 points.