Regardless of what the Douglas boys' basketball team is able to do this week, a whole lot of its playoff hopes will be tied to what North Valleys does.
The Tigers were hit with another blow to their playoff chances Saturday night as No. 1 Hug sped past them 98-62 after outscoring Douglas 34-13 in the second quarter.
Now, very simply, Douglas must win its remaining two games (at Reno Tuesday and vs. Wooster Friday) and North Valleys must lose one of its remaining games (vs. South Tahoe and vs. Damonte Ranch) for the Tigers to qualify for the playoffs.
That's the easy way.
If Douglas lost to Reno Tuesday night (The game was played after the R-C press deadline, but results of the contest are on www.recordcourier.com today), it may still have a shot at getting in, although it would need several scenarios to play out in its favor (see details box).
As it was Saturday night, Douglas simply couldn't find a way to stop Hug on the outside, giving up 11 3-pointers on the night.
Hug, conversely, couldn't plug up the middle as Tiger center Keith Olson broke out for 26 points.
Douglas' Jared Trowbridge chipped in with eight points - his highest point total of the season - and David Laird added seven. Nate Whalin put up six points for the Tigers as well.
Hug's Armon Johnson had 38 points and hit seven 3-pointers, Eddie Cranford scored 17 points and hit two 3-pointers and Darryl Feemster had 10 points.
Douglas dropped to 10-15 overall and 5-7 on the year while Hug remained undefeated in league play at 12-0.
FRESHMEN
Douglas picked up a solid 55-39 win against North Valleys last week as Cale Pete scored 19 points and hauled in five rebounds.
Nick Hales scored 10 points and had two assists, Brad Boyd had seven points, one rebound and one assist and Tyler Hoelzen scored six points, had two steals and one assist.
The Tigers also racked up a 62-26 win against South Tahoe Friday, led by 12 points and 13 rebounds from Pete, 11 points from Tanner Thomas and 10 points and eight rebounds from Hales.
Hoelzen and Lonny Walsh each added seven points and Tim Rudnick scored six points. Douglas allowed only eight points in the second half.
North Valleys (6-6), which is seeking the first playoff berth in the school's five-season history, can punch its postseason ticket with a win over South Tahoe and a loss by Douglas (5-7) against Reno on Tuesday.
Douglas could force North Valleys to win out (against South Tahoe Tuesday and against Damonte Ranch Friday) by beating Reno Tuesday and winless Wooster on Friday.
If Douglas and North Valleys finish tied for fourth at 7-7, the points-for-wins-by-defeated-opponents tiebreaker would apply Ð in which case Douglas would get the No. 4 seed and eliminate North Valleys because it will have beaten second-place Reno while North Valleys has not.
If North Valleys and Douglas finish tied at 6-8, with North Valleys losing both of its games and Douglas beating Wooster and losing to Reno, the fourth playoff spot would be determined by where Carson and Damonte Ranch finish.
If Carson finishes ahead of Damonte Ranch, North Valleys gets the playoff berth via the points-for-wins-by-defeated-opponents formula because it swept Carson while Douglas split against the Senators.
But if Damonte Ranch finishes ahead of Carson, that gives the edge to Douglas because the Tigers swept Damonte Ranch, while North Valleys and Damonte Ranch split.
If Carson and Damonte Ranch remain tied, North Valleys and Douglas would have to play off to determine which team advances, since no other tiebreaker would apply.
Provided by NevadaPrep.com
n Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
