BY DARRELL MOODY
Nevada Appeal Sports Writer
DAYTON " For nearly 28 minutes, the Dayton High girls basketball team slugged it out with Fernley in search of its second win of the season. No more than six points ever separated the rivals.
All of a sudden, the basket seemed to have a lid on it, and that was the end to the Dust Devils' upset hopes.
Dayton went scoreless during the final 4 minutes 27 seconds en route to a 59-56 loss to the Vaqueros in a Northern Nevada 3A game.
Dayton, 1-10 in conference, returns to action Friday at Sparks.
DHS coach Shari Andreasen was pleased with the effort of her squad, and was disappointed that her team let one slip away.
"I thought we played awesome tonight," Andreasen said. "It's the first time in the whole round that we played in a game like we practice everyday. It's so frustrating that we have not been able to do that (more).
"Down the stretch we missed 3-pointers. We weren't looking inside enough. We didn't get Audria (Pluck) enough touches. I don't think she touched it enough."
Dayton went 0-for-7 down the stretch and turned the ball over twice. Fernley only scored two points in that stretch, on two Markie Wilder free throws, but it was enough. Erika Garcia and Matia Spencer missed 3-point attempts in the last five seconds.
Dayton led 54-51 with 7:05 left on a bucket by Kathie Arias. Fernley roared back with six straight points for a 57-54 edge with 6:16 remaining. Kellee Bradley started the surge with a basket to make it 54-53.
After a Dayton turnover, Jayme King made the back end of a two-shot free-throw situation, tying the game at 54. Fernley took the lead for good when King followed in a Sam Rambeau miss to make it 57-54.
King was a thorn in Dayton's side all night. She finished with 28 points, and surpassed the 1,000-point mark in her career in the first quarter. The game was stopped briefly to acknowledge her accomplishment.
Neither team scored on their next two possessions, but Taylor Hill's basket pulled Dayton to 57-56 with 4:26 left.
For the next four-plus minutes, the teams traded missed shots and turnovers until Wilder's two free throws made it 59-56.
- Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling 881-1281.