Fallon senior Brandon Turner and the Greenwave must win today at Sparks and Saturday at South Tahoe to advance to the Northern Division I-A playoffs.
The pressure is on.
Take a weekend series from Sparks and South Tahoe and the Fallon boys basketball team will once again earn a postseason bid. Lose and the dream floats away.
The Greenwave’s drive to the Northern Division I-A playoffs begins at 7:30 p.m. today at Sparks and culminates with a 2:30 p.m. tip-off at South Tahoe on Saturday.
“We know those teams and what they have and how they are going to play us,” Fallon coach Brad Barton said.
Fallon’s journey, though, will be hindered as junior Connor Richardson injured hand limits his capabilities and center Braxton Hunter’s ankle is still tender. Richardson played in the past two games, but was unable to perform up to his skill set as a result of the fracture.
Hunter, however, has not played in nearly two weeks after a severe sprained ankle sidelined him.
As a result, Fallon has leaned on senior star Jeff Evett more, while fellow senior Ettore Neiderauer, junior Clay Davison and sophomore Dylan Ridenour have picked up the slack offensively.
Evett leads the Northern DI-A in scoring (16.7 points per game) followed by Ridenour (8.9), Davison(8.2) and Neiderauer (6.2).
“We have to play them one game at a time,” Barton said. “Sparks is going to be like playing against Dayton with that 2-3 zone.”
Fallon does hold the edge against Sparks and South Tahoe, having swept an earlier series between the schools in January.
But the injuries, though, may balance the scales after Fallon secured 20-point plus wins against the Railroaders and Vikings.
And while Sparks has been eliminated from playoff contention, South Tahoe remains in the thick of the fight. The Vikings are a half-game ahead of the Wave for the fourth seed and have a chance at the No. 3 slot should Spring Creek fall to Truckee on Thursday and Lowry on Saturday.
Fallon’s only chance for the postseason, meanwhile, is to win out.
“Playing up in Tahoe is always tough,” Barton said. “We have to wake up Saturday and prepare ourselves for a tough basketball game.”
South Tahoe, though, has a pair of quality wins on its resume with a season-sweep over Spring Creek. And although the Vikings were run out of the gym against the Wave on Jan. 17 (68-47), South Tahoe is riding a four-game winning streak.
South Tahoe also has a rest advantage having dropped Sparks, 46-34, on Tuesday, while Fallon must play back-to-back games.
While rest is nice, Fallon’s edge may be a more consistent offensive effort since they play today as well.