For one half, the Douglas High School girls' basketball team had all cylinders clicking just fine.
For the second half, the Lady Tigers did everything they could just to hold off an upstart Truckee squad, as Douglas got away with a 47-41 victory in the first round of the North Valleys Invitational Thursday.
"It was a tale of two halves," Douglas coach Werner Christen said. "You could say it was the best of halves and it was the worst of halves.
"We got a win, we pulled one out and I'm never going to complain about that."
Douglas (2-3 overall) built a 30-11 lead in the first half, but struggled to protect it in the second half, getting outscored 30-17.
"We got a little too cautious offensively," Christen said. "We said at halftime that it would be a good opportunity to see how we played with a lead.
"We didn't do so well on that little pop quiz, but they played hard and they found a way to win it."
Truckee managed to close the deficit to make it a one-possession ballgame at one point, but Kristin Wyatt hit a big 3-pointer for Douglas to help the Tigers pull away.
Christen said Dana Pardee had her best game of the young season, cleaning up the defensive boards and turning in seven points on offense.
"You know, Truckee is a very athletic team and they really did a good job of crashing the boards but Dana did a great job against that," Christen said. "I was really happy with how she played defensively."
Bridget Maestretti led the team in scoring for the fourth time in five games, scoring 12 points.
Outside of that, Douglas got a balanced offensive effort.
Wyatt and Dany Heidt each scored five points and Allie Hughes, Taryn Williams, Katie Buffo and Kaela Horse each scored four points.
Douglas was set to play Clovis West Friday afternoon. Clovis is coached by former Reno High coach Craig Campbell.
"We got to see them after our game and they are the real deal." Christen said.
-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
