Sbragia leads Dayton girls past Yerington
Dave Price
DAYTON - So, how well did Amanda Sbragia play for the Dayton High girls basketball team on Saturday?
All the 5-foot-11 junior post player did was tally 19 points and 15 rebounds to help the Dust Devils to a 52-40 victory against Lyon County rival Yerington. Then again, a performance like that certainly didn't surprise Yerington coach Rod Rundle.
"Sbragia has been tough against us every time we've played," said Rundle, whose Lions lost meetings at Dayton's Sutro Classic and the North Valleys tournament in December. "She's big enough she can go up and over us for a rebound without fouling us, and she busts a couple of 3s on top of that."
Sbragia knocked down a 3-pointer and almost had another with a 17-footer from the left wing, back-to-back shots that gave the Dust Devils a 9-3 lead with 3:22 remaining in the first quarter. Yerington never got any closer than four points again.
"She's hard to stop," Dayton coach Monica Halverson said. "I've talked to other coaches around the league and they've described her as intimidating."
One example came at the end of the first half when Sbragia stole the ball on the defensive end, then took a return pass from Lauren Clark on the other end of the floor and hit a short jumper from the lane to give the Dust Devils a 27-15 lead.
The win was certainly more than a one-player show for Dayton (6-4 overall, 1-1 Northern 3A).
"They played well today," Halverson said. "I think we're playing better. We're executing better and playing a lot smarter, in particular, our communication on the court is getting better."
Even though Yerington cut the deficit to 10 points on three occasions in the fourth quarter, Dayton answered with a score of its own with the help of some different sources. First, Lauren Clark came up with a steal near midcourt and fed a downcourt pass to Rebecca Clark for an easy layup to make it 44-32. Lauren Clark hit a jumper, assisted by Amanda Ring to make it 46-34. And then Bridgette Galles drove for a layup, assisted by Rebecca Clark, to make it 48-36.
Galles finished with 11 points and Rebecca Clark 10 for the Dust Devils.
Senior guard Hattie Emm scored 16 points while Kathie Keats contributed 12 for the Lions (6-8, who were coming off a tough overtime loss at home the night before against North Tahoe).
"We just didn't seem to have the same energy today," Rundle said. "It's always tough to come back after a game like that."
The Lions were limited to eight field goals, but did shoot 23-for-28 from the free throw line. Emm was 7-for-8 from the line, Jillian Menesini 6-for-6 and Keats 6-for-8.
