Fallon guard Connor Richardson drives the lane during Saturday's 60-23 loss to Lowry, The Wave rebounded Monday with an 84-47 thumping over Dayton.
Like a bolt of lightening, the Fallon boys basketball team exploded on Senior Night.
The Greenwave drilled Dayton, 84-47, on Monday in a Northern Division I-A game at the Elmo Dericco Gym to keep pace with South Tahoe for the final playoff spot.
Coming off a lackluster 60-23 loss at Lowry on Saturday, the Wave couldn’t miss on Monday.
Senior guard Ettore Neiderauer started the onslaught with a 3-pointer, while senior center David Ford added four points as the Wave raced out to a 18-5 first quarter lead including a 15-0 run to open the game.
From there, Fallon kept scoring in waves as the Wave put up their highest point total of the season. Senior guard Jeff Evett led the green and white with 20 points, while Neiderauer added 17. Ford, making his first start of the season, had 10 points, while junior Clay Davison and sophomore Dylan Ridenour each had 12, while senior Brandon Turner chipped in with eight.
“I started my senior boys and told them they could stay on the court as long as they were getting it done, and they went on a 15-0 run,” Fallon coach Brad Barton said. “Hats off to David Ford. He played an excellent basketball game, and I couldn’t take him out.”
Fallon continued to roll in the second quarter after a 3 by Davison pushed the lead to 27-7 and took a 37-16 halftime lead.
It was more of the same in the third quarter as Fallon’s defense didn’t allow Dayton to find its rhythm while the offense kept up its frenetic pace.
Evett buried a pair of jumpers then back-to-back 3s capped with a breakaway dunk to give the Wave a 64-27 advantage.
“They didn’t want this to be Jeff Evett’s last home game,” Barton said. “The seniors really stepped up and handled this basketball game.”
Fallon’s (8-6 league, 11-12 overall) quest to the postseason stayed alive as the Wave are tied with South Tahoe (8-6, 12-11) for fourth. The Vikings, though, own the tiebreaker with Spring Creek (10-3, 13-8), who plays Truckee (2-11, 4-17) in Winnemucca today.
If Spring Creek loses its last three, while South Tahoe wins out, the Vikings will earn the No. 3 seed. With a win today, Spring Creek will clinch a playoff berth with a chance to earn the No. 2 seed should the Spartans beat Elko (14-0, 21-2) and Lowry (11-2, 16-7) on Friday and Saturday.
For Fallon, the Wave enters must-win games at Sparks (3-11, 7-15) and South Tahoe on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Two wins punch the Wave’s ticket to next week’s regional tournament in Fallon.
“It was good to see the boys respond after Saturday,” Barton said of the Lowry loss. “We got beat up, plain and simple. So, I challenged them to come out and respond tonight (Monday) and I was happy to see that effort.”