After letting Laguna Creek slip out to a 10-2 lead Saturday afternoon, Douglas boys' basketball coach Rob Streeter called a time out and sent his team back out on the floor for what would end up being the Tigers' finest defensive performance so far this year.
Whatever adjustments the Tigers made worked out just fine as Douglas turned around with a 12-1 run on their way to a 56-44 win in the championship game of the Carson Valley Classic.
The win marked Douglas' second tournament win of the young season and pushed the Tigers to 6-0 on the year.
Keith Olson led all scorers with 18 points as he was named the tournament MVP and Mike Gransbery scored 12 as he was named to the all-tournament team.
Joe Nady was Douglas' other all-tournament selection, making strong contributions off the bench and scoring seven points in the game.
Defensively, Douglas was nothing short of stifling against the athletic Cardinals. Nady, his brother Jeff Nady, Gransbery, Kevin Emm and Jared Trowbridge all had standout games defensively.
Laguna Creek managed to stay close through halftime, pushing the score to 30-26 behind the play of L.T. Thomas, who finished the game with 11 points, and forward Chris Ayo.
Douglas broke out with a 13-2 run to start the third quarter, which has statistically been its best quarter all season.
Gransbery scored seven of his points during that run alone. The game was still within reach for the Cardinals midway through the fourth with Laguna Creek trailing 46-38, but Joe Nady hit a shot from the elbow and on the next possession fed Olson a backdoor pass for a dunk to essentially seal the game.
Next up fo Douglas will be national power Artesia, out of California, on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in the first round of the George Maldonado Classic at Galena High School.
-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
