Lady Tigers score comeback win

This storyline was completely different.

The Douglas girls' basketball team - a team that is more prone to grinding the ball inside than lighting the scoreboard up from beyond the 3-point line - scored all but one of its first-half field goals from beyond the arc, trailed by 11 at the half and still found a way to drum up a 47-43 victory against the No. 9 Damonte Ranch Mustangs Saturday afternoon.

For the majority of the season, Douglas has been steady from the inside, usually either building a lead or staying within striking distance through the first half by utilizing its passing to open up lanes for open shots inside. As the team would fall behind later in the game, the Tigers would switch more toward its outside threats in an effort to catch up.

The tables were completely turned upside down against Damonte.

Sharp-shooter Kristin Wyatt hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter, staking the Tigers to an early 9-5 lead.

Bridget Maestretti added another 3-pointer later in the second quarter and Monica Knight - usually the bread-and-butter of the Tigers' offense - was held to only one field goal in the first half.

Douglas trailed 27-16 at halftime, primarily due to some passing breakdowns on offense that Damonte Ranch turned into a 6-0 run to close out the half.

The Tigers, however, came back out and put together one of their best quarters of the entire season.

Wyatt hit a pair of free throws, and freshman Jessica Waggoner had a breakout stretch of six consecutive points, totalling an 8-0 run over the first four minutes of the half.

Defensively, Douglas picked up its game and the Tigers were able to draw within one point on two free throws apiece from Wyatt and Knight. They took the lead back with 1:18 left in the third quarter on a basket by Autumn Burtt, which completed a 14-2 run for the Tigers.

Douglas was an impressive 7-of-10 from the line in the third while Damonte went 0-for-2, which allowed the Tigers to claw back into the game without taking much time off the clock.

The Mustangs briefly took the lead back before the close of the quarter, but five unanswered points from Knight at the beginning of the fourth put the Tigers back up 36-33.

Damonte rallied to tie it back up at 36 with 5:30 left, but Lisa Christen hit a pair of free throws and Burtt added another basket and a free throw to put Douglas up or good.

Wyatt finished with 13 points to lead the Tigers while Knight had 12.

Waggoner and Maestretti each finished with six points, Burtt had five, Christen had three and Allie Hughes had two.

Former Tiger Colleen Carlson scored nine points for Damonte in the loss.

The win boosted Douglas' overall record to 9-14 and 5-4 in Sierra League play.

JUNIOR VARSITY

Douglas split the weekend, dropping a contest to Carson and beating up on Damonte Ranch 57-21.

Douglas came out strong against Carson, building an 11-7 lead early, but the Senators took a 19-16 lead into the locker room.

In the third quarter, Carson unveiled a tough half-court trap that created problems for the Tigers. The Senators pushed ahead for the 40-29 win.

Michelle Richardson led the Tigers with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Bailee Culver had two 3-pointers and finished with nine points and seven rebounds. Jamie Greer had six points and four steals.

On Saturday, Douglas built a 10-3 lead on Damonte and didn't let go.

Culver led the Tigers with12 points, Richardson scored 10 to go with 18 rebounds, Greer and Katie Buffo each scored nine points and Jamie Henry scored seven.

Amanda Gangwish scored five while Sarah Phillips scored three and pulled in 11 rebounds. Jaclyn Neddenriep scored two points as well.

Douglas improved to 6-3 on the year.

FRESHMEN

Douglas got by Carson in a defensive battle Friday night, winning 17-16. The Tigers held off a late rally to pick up their third-straight win over Carson this season.

They turned around Saturday afternoon and thumped Damonte Ranch 65-10.

"It's always big when you play Carson," coach Dave Pfaffenberger said. "It was a very emotional game and we had a tough time finding ways to score. I knew the girls would bounce back big on Saturday."

Against Carson, Taryn Williams led the scoring with six points while Niki Hamzik added four with two great outside jump shots late in the second quarter.

Helen Fillmore had three point while Ally Freitas and Danyelle Heidt finished off the scoring with two points each.

In Saturday's game, Douglas got hot in early from beyond the arc with 62 points in the first three quarters alone.

Leading the way was starting center, Edna Meza with 14 points. Freitas and Williams chipped in 11 and 10 points respectively.

Jessica Gorton scored eight points and Hamzik and Melissa Brown each scored six.

The freshman girls are now 17-3 overall and 8-1 in league play.

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