BY JUSTIN LAWSON
Special to the Nevada Appeal
DAYTON " With the game on the line Wednesday night against Yerington, the Dayton boys basketball team could have used some 3-pointers to get themselves back into range, but threes were the last thing on the mind of Dayton coach T.W. Cunningham.
"We have a much better chance of making a two with as many layups as we missed," Cunningham said.
Cunningham wasn't in much of a talking mood after watching his Dust Devils (0-1 in league, 6-7 overall) start slow and crumble at the end in their 61-55 loss to Yerington at Dayton High School.
Yerington put the pressure on the Dust Devils early after jumping out to a 14-8 lead behind three straight 3-pointers.
"We've consistently done that all year, just not been ready to go," Cunningham said.
Yerington guard Burke Bristol caused the biggest headache for Dayton as he blew up for 26 points behind six 3-pointers. His first three baskets were threes, with two of those contributing to the early 14-8 lead.
"We did a horrible job on him," Cunningham said.
But Bristol and the Lions did just what Cunningham expected them to do: shoot threes and hustle. The difference, Cunningham said, was just not executing.
Cunningham said the team didn't play smart.
"A lot of unforced, stupid mistakes and then got out-hustled to pretty much every loose ball," he said.
After the Lions' quick start, Dayton went on a run of its own, knocking down six straight points to tie the game. Dayton went on to grab a 27-26 halftime lead.
It kept the game close in the third quarter as Yerington crept out to a 43-39 lead, but let things get away in the fourth quarter as Dayton started the quarter by turning the ball over on a traveling call. Turnovers would become a familiar theme for Dayton throughout the quarter. The Dust Devils had two turnovers on bad passes and another on a charging call.
"We just did not make good decisions or adjust to them," Cunningham said.
Yerington went on a 12-4 run to open the fourth quarter. Dayton again had a chance to get back in the game after Chris Sikora hit a pair of free throws followed by a Kage Walker steal and subsequent layup by Tannar Wood to cut the lead to 57-51 with 3 minutes, 25 seconds remaining.
But Dayton still couldn't control the boards in the final minutes as Tyler Waldaias hit a putback to push the lead back to eight.
Wood answered with a reverse underhand layup on the other end of the floor.
Dayton had to resort to fouling with just 1:07 remaining. Yerington hit just one of its first three attempts, but turnovers and a missed three followed by a missed Wood putback basically sealed the game for the Lions.
While Truckee lies ahead for the Dust Devils, they aren't ready to put Wednesday's mishaps behind them.
"Making layups and playing defense," Cunningham said of practice between now and Friday. "We'll go figure it out up there, maybe that's better."