RENO " When the Douglas boys' basketball team hosted Galena earlier in the season, the Tigers put together a huge comeback in the final quarter to pull off an improbable win.
Tuesday night in Reno, the Tigers found themselves staring down a 10-point deficit with a minute remaining, and nearly pulled off yet another improbable comeback.
Douglas hit five 3-pointers in the final minute of play, but Galena wasn't about to let this one slip away, hitting six of eight free throws down the stretch to escape with a 53-52 win at home.
While it seemed Douglas couldn't miss in the final minute, the Tigers couldn't seem to buy a basket for the rest of the game.
The Tigers gave up 16 offensive rebounds in the game, nine in the second half alone, while managing just 19 points compared to Galena's 21 in the first half.
"You look at the first half, I thought our defense stepped up and did the things we needed to do," Douglas coach Corey Thacker said. "We held them to 21 points, we did a good job, but we couldn't convert it on the other end. We couldn't make a layup
to save our lives."
The defensive tone of the game continued into the third quarter when the two teams combining for 20 total points as Galena carried a 33-27 lead into the fourth.
Then the floodgates opened as Douglas outscored the Grizzlies 25-20 in the final period.
"Second half, I don't know what happened," Thacker said. "We didn't block out, we gave them second-chance opportunities. They had nine offensive rebounds. You give that to any team, even if they shoot 20 percent, that's still four or six points.
"That can't happen in a game like this."
Indeed, it was a stretch with about two minutes gone in the third that may have been the difference in the game. Douglas had tied the game up at 21 on a James
McLaughlin basket, but Galena came back with an 8-0 run that the Tigers wouldn't be able to close the gap on until the final minute.
Of those eight points, three baskets came on back door cuts along the baseline.
"They'd been doing that all night, but we just got soft in there defensively and that stretch really came back to hurt us," Thacker said.
Galena ultimately built its lead to 10 at 47-37 with 1:06 left as Alex Hansen, who finished with nine points for the Grizzlies, converted four free throws on consecutive trips down the floor.
That's when Douglas got things in gear offensively.
McLaughlin, who led all scorers with 23 points, hit three 3-pointers in the final minute while Tyler Hoelzen and Luis Pina-Duarte also cashed in from downtown.
"We just started attacking," Thacker said. "I don't know if we're a team that just has to play like that all the time or what."
Michael Arcinega led Galena with 13 points while Victor Walker had nine and Nate Hosmer and Ryan Dougherty each had seven.
Austin Neddenriep had eight for Douglas, Nick Hales finished with seven, Pina-Duarte had five, Hoelzen finished with three and Parker Robertson, Cale Pete and Garrett
Getty each had two.
Douglas (3-6) now finds itself in the position of having to win the remaining five games of its schedule in order to qualify for the playoffs.
"We have to get it together right here," Thacker said. "I'm pointing the finger at myself first. Hopefully we have guys who can step up and figure out how to pull together.
"At this point it's win or pray for somebody else to get upset. When it comes down to crunch time, you can't wait for someone else to take care of it for you."