Douglas High's JC Reid goes up for a basket while a Bishop Manogue defender attempts to block his shot Saturday night at Spanish Springs. Reid finished with four points in the regional championship loss.
Photo by Ron Harpin.
Bishop Manogue was too good Saturday night in a 68-44 win over Douglas High basketball to capture the Class 5A North regional title.
The loss doesn’t conclude the Tigers’ season as they qualified for the state tournament in Las Vegas after winning Thursday over Spanish Springs.
Douglas turns to face Durango, who won the Class 5A South region after beating both Bishop Gorman and Liberty.
The Tigers will play Durango (19-6) at 7:50 p.m. Friday at Cox Pavilion on the campus of UNLV.
(A look at the Class 5A boys state tournament bracket)
How it transpired
Bishop Manogue led 17-11 after the opening quarter in which the Miners netted four 3-pointers in the opening eight minutes.
Douglas senior Thomas McDowell hit two free throws with 33.3 seconds remaining in the quarter, but it was the last points the Tigers would score over the next seven minutes.
By the end of the run, Bishop Manogue had extended its lead to 29-13 when McDowell was able to get back to the line and hit two more free throws.
Miner senior guard Jordan Morency was red-hot in the first half, knocking down five triples and posting 17 points in the first 16 minutes.
At half, Douglas trailed 36-17.
“They did what they normally do. They earned their championship tonight. Jordan shot the ball really well in the first half,” said Douglas head coach Corey Thacker.
In the second half, it was Carson Jensen who took over on his way to a 27-point outing.
The forward put up 19 of his 27 points in the second half.
“We were not aggressive at all. We sat back and let them dictate today. We can’t do that against any team we play,” said Thacker. “Manogue had control the whole time today.”
Douglas has averaged more than nine steals a game this season, but Saturday night the Tigers managed just three.
Offensively, the Tigers struggled to ever find a true rhythm.
Douglas ended the night shooting 31 percent from the floor and just 2-for-18 from beyond the arc.
Bishop Manogue head coach Luke Babbit said postgame the Miners’ plan was to make Douglas’ outside shots as tough as possible.
“We knew we had to get out to their 3-point shooters. (Caden) Thacker, (JC) Reid, McDowell and others can really shoot it. We knew we had to get two, three, four feet in front of the 3-point line,” said Babbitt.
Theo Reid led the Tigers with 18 points and 10 rebounds while McDowell ended the night with 11.
“We had to do some things different offensively. Today we were stagnant and we didn’t move. Manogue did a really good job getting tips on the ball and they stayed in front of us,” Thacker said.
While the loss will certainly feel sour through the weekend, the Tigers will still be competing in the state tournament for the second straight season.
“It hurts, but there’s only four teams practicing for the next week,” said Thacker.