Nevada Appeal News Service and Staff Reports
MINDEN " Douglas boys basketball coach Corey Thacker isn't worried about a couple of gray hairs, just as long as his team is continuing to learn.
The Tigers saw a game with Bishop Manogue come down to the final possession for the fifth time this season Friday night, but that final shot never came to fruition.
Douglas had a chance to tie it up with the last shot but the lost control of the ball with less than five seconds remaining. Manogue's Bobby Hunter came up with the loose ball and dribbled out the clock as the top-ranked Miners held on for a 63-60 win over the Tigers at Douglas High School.
"They're definitely giving me some gray hairs," said Douglas coach Corey Thacker with a laugh. "But what's important is that they continue to learn from these games. We're going to build on this. They've been in this situation a number of times now and they are learning to trust each other in them."
Indeed, Douglas held Manogue's high-octane offense, which came into the game averaging 80 points and having eclipsed the 100-point mark four times this season, in check. The Miners went just 3-of-19 from behind the 3-point arc.
The difference in the entire game may have come in the second quarter. After the teams played to a 15-15 tie in the first, the Miners opened the second on a 13-1 run, capitalizing on a number of turnovers on the Douglas end.
Douglas got back into the game with a 10-1 run of its own, using 3-pointers from Tim Rudnick and James McLaughlin to close the gap to 29-26.
The Tigers outscored the Miners 16-11 in the third quarter and cut the deficit to 45-44 with a long 3-pointer from Luis Pina-Duarte at the buzzer.
Douglas tied the game up twice over the next two minutes and even held a brief lead at 49-48 after a putback from Cale Pete but Manogue used a an 8-0 run to pull back out.
Trailing 61-54 with 1:25 left, Austin Neddenriep scored on a drive down the baseline and McLaughlin scored on a drive of his own to close the gap to 61-58 with 44.1 seconds left.
Manogue Keith's Fuetsch hit the back end of a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left but Douglas' Parker Robertson scored inside with 10 seconds left to close it to 62-60.
Hunter was fouled on the next possession, but missed his second shot, giving Douglas a final chance trailing by three with 9.1 seconds left.
Hunter led all scorers in the game with 17 points while Manogue's Alex Hargrove had 13 and Fuetsch had 12.
Cale Pete led Douglas with 15 points, Rudnick had 12, McLaughlin had 10, Pina-Duarte had nine and Robertson had seven.
Manogue improved to 14-6 overall and 5-0 in league play with the win while Douglas dropped to 5-13 and 2-3.
DAYTON 56,
SPRING CREEK 51
The Dust Devils trailed by as many as 20 points in the first half before storming back behind the hot shooting of Tannar Wood and Chris Sikora.
While Dayton slowed down the Spartans by committee defensively, Wood scored a team-high 23 points and Sikora put up 15 as the Dust Devils improved to 8-7 overall and 2-1 in league.
Dayton trailed 35-22 at halftime and finally rallied to take the lead with four minutes remaining in the game.
"We have to find some leadership," Dayton coach T.W. Cunningham said. "We have to find a way to settle down for four quarters if we want to be successful."
Dayton hosts Lowry today. Tip-off is 3:30 p.m.
LOWRY 59, YERINGTON 53
The Lions fell, but not without a fight. Burke Bristol scored 23, including six 3-pointers, Michael Vale added 10 and Sergio Cruz six as Yerington fell to 8-5 overall and 1-2 in league play.
CARSON JV 57, GALENA 32
Tre Jensen led the Senators with 24 points and Matt Cooper added 14 as Carson improved to 12-2. The Senators host Fallon today at 5 p.m.
GALENA FROSH 58, CARSON 52
In spite of Ty Keffer's 20 points, the Senators fell to 12-4 overall, 3-2 in league with a loss to the Grizzlies. Max Keller scored 16 points and Geoff Taylor added seven for Carson.