BY JUSTIN LAWSON
Special to the Nevada Appeal
For two years Yerington has nearly ruled the Northern 3A, but when its star center Karrie-Ann Quartz walked into the gym at Dayton High School on crutches and wearing a knee brace on Wednesday, some Dust Devils breathed sigh of relief.
"It was a big surprise because we got ready to protect the basket and we planned around her because we know she's a great player," Dayton forward Aundria Pluck said. "When she walked in on crutches it was a whole twist on the game."
The injury, though, did little to help Dayton as the Lions took home a 70-49 win without Quartz, who learned earlier in the day that she would be out for the rest of her senior year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
The loss of Quartz was not only an obvious disappointment to Yerington, but to Dayton coach Shari Andreason.
"That's horrible for her," Andreason said. "I feel bad for their team ... I hate to play against a team without their full team. I knew it's one player that we would have to worry about. (But) I'm very impressed with how they adjusted because it was so recent and they haven't had a lot of adjustment time."
The Lions (1-0 in league, 12-0 overall) not only proved they could win without Quartz, the 2007-08 Northern 3A Player of the Year, but they also jumped all over the Dust Devils behind the shooting of Tashina Jim and Kayla Lommori.
Jim ruled from behind the arc as she hit five threes and finished with 19 points.
Lommori started off slow as the Dust Devil defense swarmed around her, knowing they could concentrate on one post player rather the two they would have faced had Quartz been in the lineup. But Lommori warmed up late in the second quarter and finished with 21 points.
The two got plenty of chances to run the score up as the Lions dominated on the glass. Yerington had 16 points on offensive rebounds, according to Andreason.
"The first half they killed us," Andreason said. "If we would have rebounded they wouldn't have had a 17-point lead on us at halftime."
Nearly ever loose ball found its way out to a purple jersey in the first half as Yerington jumped out to a 51-34 lead at halftime.
"We went to halftime knowing how bad we were doing, it was ridiculous," Pluck said. "(We said), 'Let's fix it.'"
The Dust Devils began to work themselves back into the game, especially as the Lions rotated out their starters about halfway through the third quarter. But the Lions brought back their starters and that's when Lommori began to really heat up. The senior hit a three from NBA range with about three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to put Yerington up 62-44.
"That's something we're really going to have to work on is our rebounding now that we've lost our height," Yerington coach Dorsey Thom said. "It's just going to be hustle and speed, that's all it is now."
Dayton travels to Truckee a 2 p.m. league game on Saturday.