Fallon's Elijah Jackson blocks Dayton's Lance Peterson during Fallon's last home game of the regular season.
After a close game Friday, the Greenwave overwhelmed Dayton for a senior night win, 52-34.
The first quater was close as Fallon ended with a 10-6 lead. In the second quarter, Fallon started pulling away taking a 26-13 lead. Dayton tried to comeback in the third quartber but wasn’t able to cut the lead to below 10 as Fallon had a 33-21 lead after three. In the fourth quarter, Fallon surged to outscoring the Dust Devils 10-6 down the game’s final stretch.
Elijah Jackson led both teams in scoring with 11 points while Thomas Steele and Christian Nemeth followed with 10. Hayden Strasdin tallied six, John Cooley four, Trey Rooks three and Bryce Larsen one. Steele was also a defensive leader with 11 rebounds, Rooks and Cooley following with five.
Fallon coach Chelle Dalager said Steele’s rebounds really helped Fallon stay ahead and wrack up a lead.
Dalager noted Dayton controlled the ball in the first quarter as the Dust Devils used a pressure defense. She said Fallon getting an early lead helped take off some of the pressure. Getting Dayton in an early deficit was key for Fallon. Dalager said one of Dayton’s strategies in the past has been to take the lead, then kill time keeping the ball away from the other team.
Fallon’s defense also shut down one of Dayton’s primary scorers, holding a 20-point-per-game player to only seven points.
“That’s what I want to give some props to,” Dalager said. “When we can keep a high scoring kid to single digits, we’ve really done something.”
Dalager said she was especially happy the win was on senior night. She said Nemeth, the team’s only senior, has put a lot of work into the program.
“It’s nice to have a win like that to reward him for all his hard work,” she said.
Nemeth said the packed crowd is probably one of his best memories. He said the Wave started slow, but progressed as the game went on.
“It was fun playing here for the last time,” Nemeth said. “It meant so much in front of a crowd that’s been so devoted for four years. I went out with a bang, it was something to remember; it was awesome.”
The Greenwave also took on the Lowry Buckaroos Saturday. Fallon claimed another win, 63-55, and advanced to 10-4 in the Northern 3A. Nemeth and Dalager noted Fallon hasn’t defeated Lowry since 2001.
“It was a good thing to be a part of, it was super exciting,” Nemeth said.
Nemeth said they had foul trouble in the first quarter. After Dalager spoke to them, though, they improved and started playing good defense.
The coach said they had trouble rebounding, but had a high shooting percentage with lots of players scoring. She added they handled pressure from the taller team well and did good sharing the ball.
“It never felt really close,” Dalager said. “Even though it was within one or two points at one point in the game, I still felt like we were in control.”
The Greenwave travels to Sparks and South Tahoe this weekend, closing out the regular season. The game in Sparks begins at 7:30 p.m. and the South Tahoe game starts at 2:30 p.m.
Nemeth said they always take one game at a time and would give Sparks and Tahoe everything they have. He said they can’t overlook any team.
Dalager noted many players look at a team and assume they’re an easy win based on the standings.
“We want to control our own destiny,” Dalager said. “We don’t want anyone determining where we sit.”
If Fallon wins this weekend’s games, they enter regionals as the No. 2 seed with a bye Thursday.