Darrell Moody
MINDEN - When the Northern Nevada basketball rankings came out before Christmas, Douglas coach Werner Christen was stunned to see North Valleys ranked third in the state.
The Tigers, who have one of the toughest schedules in the state, were not even mentioned. Christen admitted he felt his team got overlooked, and looked forward to the opportunity to prove the pollsters wrong.
Julie Gingrich, Erin Brinkmeyer and Brittany Puzey scored 15 points apiece to lead Douglas to a convincing 70-55 victory over North Valleys Friday in its Sierra League opener.
"I don't care," Christen said after the game. "Did I use it as a motivational tool? Absolutely.
"It was a physical game. Their big girl (Anita Burdick) is the real deal. I liked the way she played for them. They have improved. They had 30 turnovers tonight, and last year they would have had 30 turnovers at the half. They are well coached. I think Matt (Murphy) has done a great job with them."
North Valleys (14-4, 0-2), with its helter-skelter style of offense, gave the Tigers (10-6, 1-0) some problems in the first 12 minutes of the game, racing out to a 20-17 lead thanks to six points by Burdick, who scored 22 in the game.
In the next six minutes, which spanned the final four-plus minutes of the first quarter and the first 90 seconds of the second quarter, the Tigers outscored North Valleys 26-5 to take a commanding 43-25 advantage with 6:32 left in the third quarter. Within that surge was a 9-1 run in the final 1:08 of the half.
Puzey led the barrage with eight points, and Brinkmeyer and Kellei Kizer chipped in six apiece.
"The girls played hard," Christen said. "We challenged them to play with energy. We were not doing a good job defensively (early), and they responded to the challenge."
The Panthers, behind the play of Catrina Cherry (23 points), cut the lead to 52-42 with 5:15 left in the game. However, Douglas went on a 12-5 run to get the lead back up to 17 points (64-47) with 2:48 left. Brinkmeyer and Gingrich knocked down three-pointers in the surge.
DOUGLAS BOYS 74,
NORTH VALLEYS 41
The Tigers (9-7) played a sterling first half, holding North Valleys to a measly 15 first-half points, en route to an easy win.
Andy McIntosh led the way with 14 points and point guard Nick Summers tallied 12.
"I'm proud of the kids," coach Keith Lewis said. "I'm definitely very pleased with the effort."
Lewis was especially pleased with the play of his bench - Pat Carlson, Chris Honer, Tommy Welton and Eric Emm - which produced 31 points. Carlson finished with 11, Welton and Emm contributed seven each, and Honer scored six points and pulled down six rebounds.
Leading 12-11 with 1:19 left in the first quarter, Douglas outscored the Panthers 26-4 the rest of the half, leaving the floor with a 38-15 advantage.
"The last three minutes of the first quarter we really stepped it up defensively," Lewis said. "They were stuck on 15 for a while."
Indeed. North Valleys didn't score in the final four-plus minutes of the first half, and Douglas scored 11 straight to take control. Carlson, Luke Rippee and McIntosh led the Tigers' surge.
Carlson has scored in double figures the last two Douglas games, both wins. His ability to penetrate and pass, or shoot the ball, gives the Tigers another weapon at point guard.
Freshman Keith Olson had an off night, scoring only six points. He did pull down nine rebounds.
"It's the first time he's really struggled," Lewis said. "Even then he still made some big plays. The rest of the guys picked him up though."
