Reese Torres, of Douglas High boys basketball, fades away for a bucket against Carson Friday night. Torres had 11 points in the Tigers' 72-37 win.
Photo by Ron Harpin.
Douglas basketball may have started just a tad slower than it would’ve liked Friday night, but that didn’t stop the Tigers from putting together three-and-a-half solid quarters of play.
After trailing 10-6 to the Senators, the Tigers pounced on the Senators and ended the first half on a 30-5 run.
Douglas has won eight of the last nine meetings against the Senators and holds a 26-11 series edge dating back to 2005.
Breaking it open
The run that silenced the Senators started with a Jeremiah Pitts triple, which cut the Tiger deficit to one, 10-9.
Carson barely make it back over halfcourt before Reese Torres poked a steal loose and slammed home a dunk that rattled the rim.
Douglas’ next possession ended with a bucket on a beautiful drive to the hole from Daron Kizer.
Only moments later, Jett Lehmann sunk a triple to force a Carson timeout, giving Douglas a 16-10 lead.
The quarter ended when Pitts got the ball in the waning seconds and silenced the Carson student section with a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer.
“I feel like we had some good energy coming into the game,” said Pitts, who finished with a team-high 15 points on five threes. “We knew we were going to win and we knew we were the better team.”
Prior to Friday night, Pitts was second in the league in 3-pointers made this season.
Caden Thacker dished out a pair of assists to Kyle Koontz for buckets in the first and second quarters, but it was Torres who continued to widen the gap.
The six-foot-four senior was on the receiving end of a pass from Ishmi Enos for a reverse layup, giving Douglas a 30-14 edge.
After another Pitts triple, Lehmann hit Torres for another 3-pointer from the wing, moving the Tigers in front 35-16 at the half.
“We played well as a team. … In the past we’ve let off the gas and tonight we didn’t,” said Torres, who tallied 11 points.
Carson battled for moments throughout the loss, mostly from the contributions of Justin Moore.
Moore battled for rebounds all night and ended the evening with a team-high nine points.
Landon Hoff added eight more for the Senators.
(Carson High's Justin Moore drives into the paint Friday night against Douglas. Moore had nine points in the Senators' loss to the Tigers. / Jeff Mulvihill, Jr. | InstaImage)
Looking ahead
Now halfway through the league slate, both squads know what’s left on the table.
Carson is still anxiously awaiting that first league win, while Douglas looks to separate itself from a pack of teams cluster in the middle of the league.
As of Friday night, Douglas (4-4) is tied for fourth in the league with Bishop Manogue. In front of both squads is Spanish Springs (5-3).
Douglas has wins over both teams already this season.
Galena (3-5) and Reed (3-5) sit a game back in fifth and sixth.
“I’m just working on being more of a team player, being more aggressive nonetheless,” said Torres. “To be honest, we can get third. Plain and simple.”
Pitts echoed his teammate.
“I feel like we know what we have to do now. We just have to go back and put some work in and we should be good,” said Pitts.
UP NEXT: Douglas will travel McQueen (7-7, 2-5) Tuesday, looking to avenge a 72-69 loss to the Lancers from the start of the league slate. The Senators (4-13, 0-8) will get Tuesday off before hosting McQueen Friday night.