DAYTON - Dayton High posted two easy victories to go 2-0 on the first day of the Sutro Classic on Friday.
The host Dust Devils coasted to a 54-39 over Bishop just four hours after ripping Pahrump 56-24.
In other games, ROP beat Douglas' JV team 61-54 and then lost 85-64 to Yerington which posted a 2-0 record in Pool B. Yerington beat Douglas JV 64-52. Pahrump went 0-2, losing to Dayton and Bishop (51-44).
Both games saw Dayton go up early, and both wins enabled Dayton coach Jason Santos to play his reserves quite a few minutes.
Dayton returns to action today at 2. The opponent wasn't known at press time. If form holds, Dayton and Yerington should meet in the finals.
Santos admitted he was hoping the Bishop game would have been more of a test. The Dust Devils won by 15, but their bench played 2 1/2 quarters. Bishop, like schools all over Nevada and California, is off to a slow start because its football team went deep into the playoffs.
This one was over quickly. The Dust Devils shot 64 percent from the field, and thanks to 17 points by Dylan Taylor, led 25-2 after the first quarter. Dayton scored 23 unanswered points. Taylor went 7-for-11 from the floor, including three 3-pointers.
"Dylan was on fire," Santos said. "We did a good job of executing against their 2-3 zone. We got some good looks and easy baskets."
"Their pressure bothered us," Bishop coach Ben Arcularius said. "They are quick and a tough, physical group. We didn't quit. A lot of teams would have folded it up, but we kept playing hard."
Santos went to his bench in the second quarter, and the pace and rhythm of the game tailed off dramatically. Bishop didn't score a field goal during the final 6 minutes 57 second of the second quarter and left the floor on the short end of a 34-7 score.
Defense is one thing that Santos has been pleased about since the season started.
"The kids are buying into man-to-man defense," Santos said. "I'm happy with our man pressure."
Dayton' second group started the second half, and Bishop went on a 12-6 run in the first 6 1/2 minutes of the quarter to cut the deficit to 40-19. Dayton got the lead back to 28 at the end of three thanks to five straight points by Cody Yeater.
Bishop opened the fourth quarter with 16 straight points to narrow the gap to 12 with 3:28 left, but Santos stayed with his reserves the rest of the way.
Against Pahrump, Dayton scored 14 of the first 16 points and coasted to an easy win.
Pahrump turned the ball over 20 times resulting in 22 points, and the visitors were a woeful 8-for-30 from the floor.
"They (Pahrump) struggled with our pressure," Santos said. "They looked out of rhythm offensively. They have a new coach this year so they're learning a whole new system."
Santos used his bench liberally, especially in the second half when the Dayton lead climbed to as high as 32 points (54-22).
"It's preseason," Santos said. "It's nice when everybody can get some minutes. You can see where everybody's at."
Adan Gomez, who led Dayton with 12 points, had six points in the first-quarter surge and Taylor had seven of his nine in the opening quarter as the Dust Devils grabbed a 20-6 lead.
Dayton went on an 8-2 run to open the second quarter for a 28-9 lead. After a 3-pointer by Pahrump made it 28-12, Dayton scored 13 of the next 15 points for a 27-point lead.
Evan Lane finished with eight and Tyler Firestone seven to complement the scoring of Gomez and Taylor.