Douglas boys fall against Wooster

RENO -The Douglas boys' basketball team was in control of its own destiny heading into the final week of the regular season.

Now they are going to have to work to get that control back.

The Tigers took a step backwards Tuesday night, as Joey Golaw scored 24 points to lead the Wooster Colts over Douglas 62-54 at Wooster in Sierra League action.

Douglas must now win its final two games, road contests against Carson on Friday and North Valleys on Saturday, to have a shot at the postseason.

"We didn't do a very good job of containing Golaw tonight," Douglas coach Keith Lewis said. "We allowed him, we allowed all of them to work us right back to the middle and we couldn't force them away.

"We were a step slow on our rotation. I don't know how many times we fouled him (Golaw) on the shot and he completed it, but we just couldn't get it done defensively. We just did not play very well."

Douglas turned the ball over 30 times and shot only 13 of 30 from the free-throw line. Despite those numbers, the Tigers still found themselves with a respectable lead midway through the third quarter before they fell victim to what is becoming a regular occurrence in their games.

The two-minute meltdown.

Douglas has held the lead in its last three games and been in contention in each of its last five (all eventual losses), but has stumbled midway through the third-quarter in each, losing both momentum and a shot to take control.

Tuesday night, five quick points from Keith Olson, who led the team with 17 pointst, opened up a 36-31 lead for the Tigers before Wooster answered with four of its own, closing the gap to one.

But the Tigers staved off the meltdown momentarily, getting six unanswered points from Nate Whalin, who finished with 14.

After a Colts' timeout, the Tigers lost control, getting called for traveling and missing three consecutive free throws as Wooster went on a 7-0 run to close out the quarter tied at 42.

"We got up by seven and we had a chance on a breakaway, but it is just the same old story every game," Lewis said. "We made poor decisions and we didn't get the ball where it needed to go.

"I've never had a group that can look so good and then flip the switch and the wheels come off."

Douglas (8-17, 3-7) stayed in the game down the stretch, but Wooster got its final 12 points from the free-throw line to seal the win.

"Maybe the light will come on these last two games," Lewis said. "The guys need to decide how hard they want to play, and they will. They are kids of character. They've played hard all year long and they've come to play. They haven't carried themselves like the record shows, and a lot of teams would."