Douglas girls fall to Manogue

SPARKS — For more than a quarter-and-a-half Thursday night, the Douglas High girls basketball team kept pace with defending Northern Division I Region Tournament champion Bishop Manogue.

Six unanswered points to end the first half enabled Manogue to break out of a deadlocked contest, however, and the Miners went on to a 75-32 region tournament semifinal victory against the Tigers at Spanish Springs High School.

Douglas held a 9-8 lead after the first quarter and the Tigers were still even at 23-all late in the second quarter. They only managed to score nine points the rest of the way.

Manogue (20-1) took a 29-23 lead to the locker room at halftime and then exploded for 28 points in the third quarter on its way to a return trip to the region finals. The Miners were up 57-30 at the end of the third quarter.

Reno and Manogue will square off in a rematch for the girls championship Saturday at 4 p.m. at Spanish Springs. Reno swarmed past Damonte Ranch, 68-27, in the earlier semifinal Thursday. Manogue and Reno both advance to the state tournament next week at Lawlor Events Center in Reno.

Douglas (13-13) had won three straight games and 10 of its last 13 coming into the semifinal. The Tigers lost two regular season meetings with Manogue, including a 74-39 verdict on Feb. 5 in Minden and 74-45 on Jan. 19 in Reno.

The Miners are now riding a 15-game win streak since they absorbed their only loss of the season 57-41 on Dec. 30 against Antelope at the West Coast Jamboree in the Bay Area.