After building an early lead Tuesday night, the Douglas High girls' basketball team had to hold on late for its first league victory of the season.
The Lady Tigers got a free throw from Jessica Waggoner and a basket from Allie Hughes to put away a 38-35 victory over rival Carson after the Senators put together a late comeback.
Trailing 30-21 at the end of three quarters, the Lady Senators got things going in the final quarter with a 14-5 run.
Freshman Brandi Vega had six of her team-high 11 points in the quarter, Nicole Scott added four of her 10 points before fouling out, and Kaitlin Burroughs and Rosella Nunez each chipped in two to tie the game up at 35 before the Tigers quelled the uprising in the final 45 seconds for the win.
"We're struggling, and to beat a good team like Carson on the road is special for us," said Douglas coach Werner Christen, whose team improved to 5-13 overall and 1-3 in the Sierra League. "We hope to make that game a base for us and go on winning. I told the girls we couldn't go 0-4 in conference. We put it together with duct tape, Super Glue and rosin."
Monica Knight, the Tigers' 6-1 center, scored a game-high 15 to lead her team to victory. Bridget Maestretti added six and Hughes and Waggoner each contributed five and Lisa Christen had four for Douglas. Kristin Wyatt also knocked down a 3-point shot for the Tigers.
Douglas jumped out to a 15-5 lead in the first quarter.
"Douglas came out fired up and we couldn't meet their energy level," said Senators coach Ric Garcia. "Nicole had two fouls early and we sent her to the bench. And we struggled with their 1-3-1 (defensive scheme)."
Garcia did manage to get his team to come up with an effective counter against his old rival, Christen, however.
"Carson began to screen the point of our 1-3-1," Christen said. "They began to feel-screen and got good movement on the point. Ric and I go way back to when we were freshman guys coaches (coaching against each other)."
It was a combination of missed shots, turnovers, Douglas' defense and too much Knight - who went 8-of-13 from the foul line - that eventually proved too much for the Senators, who fell to 7-11, 3-1 with the loss.
Douglas travels to South Tahoe tonight for a 5:15 p.m. game.
FRESHMEN
After suffering their first league loss last Friday, Douglas bounced back with a 52-21 win over Carson Tuesday.
Fueled by three double-digit scorers, the Lady Tigers improved to 3-1 in league and 12-3 overall.
Taryn Williams led the way with 13, followed by Danyelle Heidt with 12 and Megan Mitchitarian with 11.
"It was nice to see the starters get us jump-started so quickly in this game," coach David Pfaffenberger said. "I like to mix it up with some great bench players throughout the game, but tonight the starters took over early."
Melissa Brown, Edna Meza and Helen Fillmore each scored four points.
Douglas is home Friday against South Tahoe with the freshman boys tipping off at 3:30 p.m., the freshman girls tipping at 5:15 and the junior varsity girls at 7 p.m.
