Fallon's Jeff Evett weaves through traffic during the Wave's 58-54 win over South Tahoe on Saturday. With the win, Fallon clinched the fourth seed for this week's regional tournament in Elko.
Thanks to a massive second half, the Fallon boys basketball team punched its ticket to the postseason.
The Greenwave outscored visiting South Tahoe 46-29 in the second half to lock up the Northern Division I-A’s fourth seed on Saturday.
Fallon battles No. 1 Lowry, who upset Elko on Saturday, at 8 p.m. Friday at Elko High School. No. 2 Elko faces third-seeded Spring Creek and the winners advance to Saturday’s regional title and clinch a berth in the state tournament.
“We are super proud of the effort in the second half,” Fallon coach Brad Barton said. “We had some choice words at halftime and tried to put the best team out on the basketball court. They played their hearts out.”
Fallon and South Tahoe entered Saturday’s tilt with the final postseason bid on the line with the winner advancing to the playoffs.
The Wave, meanwhile, struggled in the first half to find its offensive flow as South Tahoe took a 25-12 halftime lead. But Fallon junior Jeff Evett sparked the comeback as he scored 21 points and sophomore Connor Richardson added 13.
“They played fantastic,” South Tahoe coach Joby Cefalu said. “They hit their shots and we didn’t. It was a great situation to be in … but the bottom line is they hit more shots than us.”
Fallon exploded for 23 points in the third quarter as Evett and Richardson took control of the game. The Wave’s defense, meanwhile, limited South Tahoe’s ability to score inside and sliced the Vikings’ lead to 38-35 after the quarter.
In addition to Evett and Richardson, Allen Laranang added eight points including a pair of 3s.
“Allen played absolutely fabulous,” Barton said. “Great work from our seniors.”
Laranang opened the third quarter with a 3 to ignite the rally, while Evett and Richardson took turns cutting into the lead. Tyler Bagby hit a 3 to tie the game at 28.
South Tahoe, though, answered with a pair of 3s from Jared Fajman and a bucket by Tyler Hogbin to extend the lead to 38-30.
But a 3 from Laranag and a jumper by Richardson cut the lead to 38-35.
Fallon, though, continued to roll in the fourth quarter as a 3 from Evett gave the Wave a 47-46 lead. Denzel Perez buried a 3 to put the Vikings deficit at 54-53, but a bucket by Bagby and a pair of free throws by Evett was the difference.
“We are evenly matched,” Barton said. “Jeff Evett is an outstanding player. He’s just a gamer … but we now know, at this level, it just can’t be him.”
On Friday, Fallon suffered a 57-50 loss to Sparks as the Railroaders’ Isaiah Campbell and Evett put on a scoring display.
Evett finished with a game-high 30 points, while Campbell led Sparks with 29 and hit seven 3-pointers.
Sparks built a 41-28 lead after three quarters, but the Wave rallied in the fourth quarter. Fallon cut the lead to 51-50, but Sparks was able to score twice and nail a pair of free throws in the final minute of the game to seal the win.
In all, the Railroaders buried eight 3s and hit 7-of-8 free throw attempts to earn the win.