Dayton High appeared to be riding high with a 15-point lead early in the fourth quarter after Trent Wood scored on a breakaway slam dunk Friday night against Spring Creek.
As it turned out, Spring Creek rallied back to make things interesting late, but the Dust Devils was able to hold on for a key 55-46 Northern 3A boys basketball victory at home.
Josh Aker scored 10 points and Josh Wagner came off the bench to score nine to lead a balanced offense as Dayton (3-1 league, 10-6 overall) climbed back into the thick of the race for first-place in the Northern 3A.
It's been a big week for the Dust Devils, who also handed Yerington its first league loss on Wednesday, 65-54. Friday marked the first league loss for Spring Creek (2-1, 7-6). Yerington (4-1, 13-2) took a half-game lead with its 57-52 win over Tahoe-Truckee on Friday.
"That was a big win for us," Dayton coach Rob Streeter said. "You always want to win your home games. I just hope we have enough gas left in the tank for tomorrow."
Dayton plays host to Lowry today at 3:30 p.m. in another key league contest.
Wood's breakaway dunk appeared to give Dayton all the momentum, however, the senior was assessed a technical foul for hanging on the rim.
"We kind of had a lapse after that and Spring Creek went on a big run," Streeter said. "Fortunately, we were able to regroup and regain our momentum."
Dayton got some key free throws down the stretch from sophomore Travis Wood (4-for-6 in the fourth quarter), Shane Castro (2-for-2), Danny Hopper (2-for-2) and Wagner (2-for-4).
The Dust Devils shot 12-for-13 from the line in the third quarter on their way to building a 37-27 lead and they were 12-for-20 in the final period. For the game, Dayton was 29-for-42 at the line.
Another key factor was the team's ability to keep its turnovers down to 13..
"I was very pleased with that," Streeter said.
Danny Hopper, Travis Wood and Castro finished with eight points each for the Dust Devils. Sophomore Erik Hopper played well off the bench, according to Streeter.
Colby Satterthwaite led all scorers with 16 points for Spring Creek.
YERINGTON 57, TRUCKEE 52
A 17-6 run through the second quarter helped put Yerington on track to its win over Truckee. The Lions led 27-21 at halftime.
Jeremy Means scored 14 points, Dylan Johnson 13 and Kyle Johnson 12 to lead the Lions. Jamison Mahler led all scorers with 15 for Truckee.
GIRLS
SPRING CREEK 58, DAYTON 34
Spring Creek's pressure defense enabled the Spartans to open up a double-digit lead after three quarters en route to an easy win over the Dust Devils (3-1, 8-6) in a battle between Northern 3A leaders.
Spring Creek led 27-19 at the half, and its press helped extend the lead to 41-29 after three periods.
Amanda Sbragia led Dayton with 11 points, followed by Rebecca Clark 10 and Melanie Cox with six.
Katie Cinkovich led Spring Creek (3-0, 14-2) with 12 points and Nicole Hawkins added 10.
