Battling for basketball bragging rights in Douglas County against the defending Northern 2A Regional champion, the Douglas girls wasted little time running away with the big victory.
The Lady Tigers had a superb defensive effort in their home-opener, winning 81-37 Monday night.
Douglas opened the game causing four turnovers and turning three of those into baskets for the early 6-0 lead.
Whittell battled back to close the gap to 6-4 but Douglas closed out the quarter on a 9-4 run to begin running away with the game.
Britney Hererra hit a 3-pointer early in the second to close the score to 16-11, which was as close as the Warriors would get for the rest of the game.
Using its strong defense, Douglas went on a 19-0 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Kaela Horse, Bridget Maestretti and Allie Hughes through the middle of the quarter.
Whittell's Kelly Karmann briefly broke up the run with a baasket of her own, but Douglas was able to close out the half with a 9-2 run.
The Warriors suffered from an off-night at the line, missing all 11 of their free throws in the first half and their first 16 free throws of the game. Whittell finished the night just 9-for-31 from the line.
For Douglas' part, the 81 points was the most the Tigers had scored in at least three years and every active player on the Tigers' roster was able to put points on the board.
Sophomore guard Taryn Williams had the best game of her young varsity career, leading the team with 18 points. Sophomore Jessica Waggoner had 16 points.
Outside of that, the scoring was extremely balanced for the Tigers as Nicole Didero had nine points, Sarah Hartley, Dany Heidt and Gina Pfaffenberger each had six points, Horse had five points, Maestretti and Michelle Richardson each had four, Hughes had three, Katie Buffo had two and Lisa Christen had one.
Of all those, only Horse is a senior.
Douglas also hit 34 field goals in the game, one of the highest totals produced by the Tigers in coach Werner Christen's nine-year tenure.
Jessica Woods led the team with nine points and Kelly Karmann and Megan Esquivel each scored eight points.
-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
