Olson explodes, Tigers beat Panthers

MINDEN - The pieces of the puzzle just keep falling into place for the Douglas High boys basketball team.

Sophomore center Keith Olson exploded for a career-high 38 points and the Tigers found their perimeter shooting game while rumbling to a season-high scoring total in an 87-83 win over North Valleys on Friday night.

"I'm just tickled pink with the way we are playing right now," Douglas coach Keith Lewis said. "To just see the light go on for them, they're showing us that they're ready to keep on going with this."

The win marked Douglas' third-straight, and wasn't quite as close as the final score indicated.

Douglas went on an 8-2 run, highlighted by a beautiful arcing 3-pointer by Eric Emm launched right at the buzzer to close out the first half. The Tigers went on one of their most dominating runs of the entire season to open the third quarter with a 17-6 streak.

The 6-foot-9 Olson scored 11 points during that run.

"Keith played exceptionally for us tonight," Lewis said. "Probably better than that Hug game last year (a previous career-best at 35 points).

Olson also had 15 rebounds and four blocks in the game.

"My biggest strength is rebounding," Olson said. "I try to build off of that and I let things flow from there on.

"I can't get those points without the point guards. They've been doing a great job of getting me the ball and the credit really goes to those guys. They should have most of those points, because without them I wouldn't be scoring."

North Valleys' Tim Wholey gave the Tigers fits on the defensive end, scoring 26 points, including four three pointers, to lead the Panthers.

Douglas, however, got some tremendous efforts across the board with three players in double figures.

Sophomore forward Nate Whalin continued his breakout season with 13 points for Douglas.

"Nate really stepped up tonight," Lewis said. "That was his best game for us so far. This is what we think he can do. He's got great elevation, he drives very well and he was really active tonight."

Skylar McNabb helped seal the win for the Tigers, hitting three key free throws in the final minute and hitting seven of eight from the line on his way to a nine-point outing.

Douglas also saw its perimeter shooting game, a strength during the non-league schedule, show up for the first time in league play.

Whalin, Emm, Mike Gransbery and Ramsey Horse all hit 3-pointers for Douglas in the win.

Emm finished with 10 points.

Gransbery's three came with the Tigers only up by two in the first quarter. He was fouled hard in the corner as he let a shot fly and watched the ball sink effortlessly into the net as he hit the ground. He hit the ensuing free throw as well, giving Douglas an 18-12 cushion.

"That shot really got us going didn't it?" Lewis said. "It was a tight game and that gave us a little space."

The Tigers' outside success also opened up the middle significantly for Olson.

"That took a lot of pressure off me on the inside," Olson said. "When we're hitting from the outside, that opens the middle up a lot."

Douglas led 81-68 with about three minutes left in the fourth but North Valleys got a 3-pointer from David Hagen and two from Brian Corsey in a 15-6 run to close it out.

"North Valleys played extremely hard," Lewis said. "Defensively I'm not terribly happy but they are a good team. I have all the respect in the world for them.

"Their five guys put pressure on you and you can't relax against any of them. They just didn't have anyone who could match Keith physically tonight."