Lady Tigers in 3rd place as playoffs near

The Douglas girls' basketball team hung with Reno for a quarter Tuesday evening and then the Huskies got rolling.

Reno skated through a 21-3 second quarter and Douglas simply wasn't able to recover, losing 64-34 at Reno.

"It was typical Reno, give them credit," Douglas coach Werner Christen said. "They get on those rolls and that is how they beat people. Our kids just weren't able to respond."

Douglas, playing without star center Monica Knight who was unavailable for the game, put together a solid first quarter, chipping away at the Huskies with methodic passing and strong defense.

Jessica Waggoner put up five of her team-leading nine points in the first and Felicia Imelli closed out the quarter with a game-tying layup of a well-threaded pass from Sarah Hartley just before the buzzer.

Reno switched to a stifling full-court press at the outset of the second and proceeded to go on a 14-0 run over the next five and a half minutes.

Bridget Maestretti managed to momentarily break up the run with a free throw at 2:23 and Kaela Horse added a basket a minute later but the damage was already done.

"Not having Monica hurt us," Christen said. "She makes a big difference on defense and it also really disrupted our ability to break up that press on the way down the floor."

The Tigers hung with the Huskies throughout the second but they simply weren't able to overcome the second quarter.

Maestretti scored six points for Douglas, Nicole Didero put up five, Gina Pfaffenberger added four, Horse scored three and Imelli and Autumn Burtt each scored two.

While the Tigers suffered the loss, all they have to do to clinch a playoff spot and the No. 3 seed in the Sierra League is beat Wooster tonight.

"That would be huge, finishing in third place," Christen said. "This bunch is maybe a year ahead of schedule.

"I knew we had some solid seniors but with nine kids that had never played varsity basketball coming in to this year, I wasn't sure if that was going to be enough to balance it out.

"Having that tough preseason schedule definitely helped out and it's really helped us down the stretch. Just us making the playoffs would be a big, big accomplishment."

Another benefit to the tough preseason schedule is that Douglas has already seen most of the opposition it would be facing in the playoffs.

Of the 10 teams ranked in the Sierra Nevada Sports Media Poll, Douglas has faced eight of them and has beaten three of them. Douglas is ranked No. 7 in the poll this week, thanks to its recent hot streak that included eight wins over the last 10 games.

"Even when we were losing, this group has been so much fun to be around," Christen said. "They were so positive and so supportive of each other every day at practice."

Douglas hosts Wooster tonight at 5:15 p.m. It will be the final regular-season home game for seniors Knight, Burtt, Imelli and Katie Ezell.

JV

Douglas dropped a hard-fought 48-37 game to Reno.

Douglas only had seven players available for the game and Reno took advantage of multiple substitutions to wear down the Tigers.

Katie Buffo led the Tigers with nine points and two 3-pointers. Jaclyn Neddenriep, Amanda Gangwish and Michelle Richardson each scored six points and Richardson hauled in 12 rebounds. Sarah Phillips had five points and eight rebounds, Jamie Greer scored four and Jamie Henry scored one.

Douglas is now 9-4 in Sierra League play and will travel to Wooster tonight for the season-finale.

FRESHMEN

Douglas knocked off Reno in overtime, 31-28, avenging an earlier loss to the Huskies and taking the season series 2-1.

Reno overcame a six-point deficit in the fourth quarter, hitting a jump shot from the elbow with five seconds left to tie the game at 28.

Douglas' stifling defense, however, was too much for the Huskies in the extra period, grabbing three steals and out-rebounding the Huskies in overtime.

Taryn Williams led the Tigers with nine points, including 2-for-2 from the free-throw line in overtime.

Danyelle Heidt started the scoring with five points in the first quarter. She finished with seven.

Ally Freitas had a key steal in the fourth and finished it with a breakaway layup to finish the game with six points.

The win moved the Tigers into a first-place tie with Reno at 12-1. Douglas is 21-3 overall on the year.

n Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.