By DARRELL MOODY
Nevada Appeal News Service
MINDEN - Douglas High coach Keith Lewis couldn't even have a real practice Wednesday night because his team has been hit with the flu bug.
The Tigers gutted it out, and thanks to a 12-2 run to finish the first half, and the fine play of Tommy Welton, managed to knock off Bishop Manogue 59-44 in the first round of the third annual Carson Valley Classic Thursday night.
In other first-round games, Carson wiped out a 21-point second-half deficit before falling to Davis (Calif) 63-62 despite 32 points by senior Jason Alcasas. Laguna Creek of Elk Grove, Calif. handled Fallon 59-46, and Reed edged Overland of Aurora, Colo. 63-54.
The tournament continues pool play today. Reed plays Manogue at 3:30 p.m. in a Pool B game, and Douglas hosts Overland at 8 p.m. in the other Pool B game. In Pool A, Laguna Creek meets Davis at 5 p.m., and Carson takes on Fallon at 6:30 p.m.
Douglas improved to 4-2, but this was a win against a solid team that made the 3A state tournament a year ago.
"This was a good win," Lewis said. "We'd won three games, but hadn't had a real quality win. We caught Fallon on an off night and beat two lower-division teams. We hadn't had a quality win, but we do now.
"We really got good production off the bench. Skylar McNabb played well, and so did Pat Carlson. It was nice to see everybody contribute."
The Tigers got 14 points and nine rebounds from the group consisting of McNabb, Chris Honer, Carlson and Anthony Walter.
But maybe the big story was the play of Tommy Welton, who got his first start of the season, and responded with seven points, four rebounds and four assists.
"Tommy was incredible," Lewis said. "That's what you have to do when you get the opportunity."
Manogue gave the Tigers all they could handle for the first 12 minutes, grabbing a 22-15 lead thanks to 10 points by Thomas Peregrin.
Douglas closed out the half with a 12-2 run, as Nick Summers (13 points) scored five points, and Andy McIntosh added a basket and field goal.
Welton really made his presence felt in the third quarter when Manogue cut the Douglas lead to 33-31. He led a 9-0 run with a three-pointer and a basket to increase the Tigers' lead to 42-31. That's as close as Manogue got the rest of the way.
Davis used 10 points by Levi Wyniarczuk and seven by Mike Monachello to grab a 39-24 first-half lead over the Senators.
A 6-0 run to start the second half on buckets by Craig Haberlin and Wyniarczuk and two free throws by Ben Kim gave Davis what seemed to be an insurmountable 45-24 lead with 5:32 left in the third quarter.
That's when Carson, or rather Alcasas, got going.
Alcasas, who hit 12 of 14 field-goal attempts, outscored Davis 14-4 in the final 3:24 of the period, cutting the lead to 49-38 after three.
Davis opened the fourth quarter with two hoops to make it 53-38, but a 17-2 run led by Alcasas' 11 points enabled Carson to grab a 56-55 lead with 1:25 left in the game. Adam Houghton's putback actually gave the Senators the lead.
Davis' Wyniarczuk gave the Blue Devils the lead for good with 1:12 left. The Davis lead stayed at one until Kim knocked down two free throws to make it 63-60 with 6.9 left. Houghton completed the scoring with a layup with .02 remaining.
Carson coach Bruce Barnes was proud of his team, and the way it fought back.
"We took a step in the right direction tonight," Barnes said. "I'm more happy with tonight than I am with the win against Fallon because we showed so much character.
"He (Alcasas) has the ability to do that (take over a game). He did that against Fallon, too (22 second-half points). It's a new role for him, and he's still trying to figure it out."
Barnes said it was the second straight game where the Senators have come out flat, and that's something he said that the coaching staff needs to figure out.
Senior guard Robert Vega scored 22 points, pulled down five rebounds and dished out three assists to lead Reed past the scrappy Trailblazers from Colorado. Kevin Berry contributed 14 points in the win.
Laguna Creek had an easy time with Fallon. Sean Baitlinger, the Cardinals' only returning starter, scored 14 points, and Lacurtis Sumlin added 11 and eight rebounds.
