DAYTON — The Greenwave punched their ticket as the Northern 3A’s second seed to the regional tournament in less than two weeks after handily defeating Dayton on Friday night in boys basketball.
Fallon grabbed a quick 10-0 lead and then cruised to a 60-32 win at Dayton to improve to 22-2 overall, 14-2 in the Northern 3A, two games behind league-leading Elko and three ahead of third-place Lowry. Two games remain for Fallon, Friday at Sparks (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday at Fernley (2:30 p.m.). The game will be aired on K2 99.5 FM and Network 1 Sports! www.network1sports.com/station /kktu.
Fallon coach Chelle Dalager said it’s always tough to play at Dayton.
“Coach (Jason) Santos is one of the best coaches in our league,” Dalager said. “Dayton is a high-energy place that’s always hard to play here. I’m proud of our kids of taking care of business.”
Despite the 28-point win, Dalager said Fallon’s not playing its best basketball right now. She said the team needs to refocus and return to competitiveness against the top tier teams.
“We finish against Fernley, which will be a tough game coming from Friday’s game to Saturday. It’s a tough transition,” Dalager said. “We don’t get the Elko game every night or the Lowry game every night. We don’t get the consistent play.”
Scoring in Fallon’s 11-4 first quarter provided a prelude for the rest of the game.
Thomas Steele tallied four points including a pair of free throws, while Elijah Jackson and Hayden Strasdin worked the inside with a putback shot and bank shot from the left side, respectively.
Fallon’s defense kept Dayton out of the scoring column until Jordan Torres made a layup followed by a basket from senior forward Joe Martinez.
David McFalls went to work for the Wave in the second quarter, draining a pair of 3-pointers and scoring two baskets, one on a layup after a steal and the second from the baseline. Jackson also sunk a long trey from in front of the Dayton band as Fallon padded its lead at halftime, 30-14.
Strasdin, who had four points in the first quarter, added a basket, while his brother Avery and Trey Rooks each had two points.
Martinez and Joshua Pasasouk each scored four points for the Dust Devils.
Fallon outscored Dayton 20-9 in the third quarter. Outside shooter John Cooley, who struggled with the long shot in the first half, grooved into his range with a pair of 3-pointers, and Jackson had seven points including a free throw. Both Cooley’s long shots came from the right side.
Dalager said she’s proud of the way Cooley stepped up in the second half in making his long shots.
The fourth quarter saw a continuous flow of players coming off the bench for the Wave in a 10-9 quarter.
Toby Anderson, who was called up from the junior varsity, scored three points, and Cooley launched a perfect, high-arching shot that swished the net for his third trey. While Cooley found his outside range, Avery Strasdin intercepted the ball and took it for a layup, and Jace Harmon sunk a pair of free throws. Dalager said Anderson is having the opportunity to develop his game by facing the seniors in practice.
Dayton scored two baskets from beyond the 3-point line from Pasasouk and Keerat Bhullar.
Jackson and McFalls led Fallon with 12 points each, and Cooley added nine, Steele seven and Hayden Strasdin six.