The Douglas girls' basketball team endured a tough trip to Winnemucca over the weekend, picking up its first win against the hosting Buckaroos and dropping two close contests to Spring Creek and Elko.
Bridget Maestretti led the Tigers in two of the three games, scoring 15 points to go with seven assists in a 50-43 win over Lowry and scoring 13 points in a 52-44 loss to Elko.
She also had nine points in a 47-42 loss to Spring Creek Friday.
"Bridget had a really nice weekend for us," Douglas coach Werner Christen said. "She did a good job of distributing the ball."
Douglas also saw two of its post players take some large strides over the weekend as sophomore Jessica Waggoner had 14 points against Lowry, 11 against Spring Creek and eight against Elko.
Dana Pardee scored 10 against Lowry, 10 against Spring Creek and 11 against Elko.
"Our guards did a real good job of penetrating and getting the ball to the middle," Christen said. "The posts were consistent and we'll need that as the year goes on."
Douglas struggled against Spring Creek, which boasts arguably the top player in the state in guard Johnna Ward.
The Tigers were shut out in the first quarter, mostly because they couldn't get a break shooting the ball.
"It wasn't so much that we were doing anything that bad," Christen said. "It's just that the basket seemed to have a lid on it. We couldn't get anything to fall."
Douglas recovered and cut the Spartans' lead to just four.
"It was tight for pretty much the rest of the game," Christen said. "We had to foul late and they were able to put it away from there."
Against Elko, Douglas faced another strong player in Taylor Altenburg.
"She had a really good game against us," Christen said. "They have a nice combination of players of there and they should be very good this season.
"We just had a horrendous first half, but for the last quarter and a half, we played very well. It was some of our best defensive play of the season. Elko had a 15 point lead and we were able to cut it to two, but we had to foul late again."
Christen said his team is still looking to get in better shape, but he's pleased with how the offense has been playing.
"We're still taking baby steps as a team," he said. "We saw two of the best players in the east this weekend.
"The main word right now is consistency. We just aren't there yet defensively. We've got some time to work on it and right now we're just gearing for that league opener against Damonte Ranch (Dec. 21)."
Douglas travels to the North Valleys Invitational this weekend. The Tigers will take on Truckee at 3 p.m.
A number of other Nevada teams will be involved in the tournament, including Hug, Lassen, Fallon, North Valleys, Elko, Wooster, Carson, Sparks, Spanish Springs, Damonte Ranch and South Tahoe. Clovis West, Calif., coached by former Reno head coach Craig Campbell, will also be there.
-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
