It didn't go without notice that playing in a high-stakes game at home late in the year with playoff seeding, even qualifying, on the line that the Douglas High School girls' basketball team started the game with three sophomores on the floor.
The Tigers pushed ahead for a 59-42 win over Hug Saturday, avenging a three-point loss to the Hawks just two weeks prior.
Douglas entered last year with one of its youngest lineups and toughest schedules in school history. This year's lineup was even younger.
But all those hard lumps they've have to take over better part of the last two years are starting to pay off.
The Tigers strung together three wins last week, playing some of its most-complete basketball in recent memory while putting themselves in position to clinch the No. 3 seed out of the Sierra League.
They're starting to play with confidence, and more importantly, as a team.
Only one of Douglas' top six scorers is a senior and three of the top six are sophomores.
The lone senior, Dana Pardee, is coming off a leg injury earlier in the year and is averaging 11 points per game since her return last month.
She and standout sophomore, Jessica Waggoner (11.5 ppg this season), have quietly turned into the region's top dual-post threat. They did so just at the right time, rolling into the playoffs with a chance to surprise opposing defenses. An inside offense playing to its full potential can be as good as gold in the regional playoffs as nerves can often diminsh the effectiveness of a team's outside shooting game.
A switch has also turned on for sophomore Danyelle Heidt, who averaged 10 points per game last week after putting up about two points per game earlier in the year.
She and junior point guard Bridget Maestretti also hit a combined six 3-pointers after Douglas had managed just two from behind the arc in its previous eight games.
The renewed threat from the outside has further opened things up inside, not just for Pardee and Waggoner, but also for juniors Nicole Didero and Gina Pfaffenberger.
After writing about the scuffle at the In-N-Out Burger after the Carson-Douglas game two weeks ago, South Tahoe went and did one better Friday night.
Earlier in the game, one of the South Tahoe students took it upon himself to show both of his middle fingers to the Douglas side, which included grandparents and small children along with a number of students.
The offending student was approached by South Tahoe administration but not tossed from the game.
Late in the game, as Douglas pushed its lead to 25 points with its reserves on the floor, a significant portion of the Viking student section left the gym and waited out front.
After the game, as Douglas students were exiting the gym, the South Tahoe students who'd been waiting outside, jumped on a Douglas student, gave him a black eye and tore apart his orange and black pom-pom. As Douglas teachers ran in and broke the fight up, the South Tahoe students shouted a string of expletives at the Douglas fans, telling them never to come back.
So much for settling things on the court.
South Tahoe administrators are looking into the situation further to see if they can single anyone out to punish.
In an unrelated incident, Whittell High School found itself in a similar situation over the weekend during a trip to Lovelock. After a postgame tussle between two coaches, Lovelock students went outside and began throwing rocks and threatening the Whittell players and coaches. According to the Tahoe Daily Tribune, the students continued to throw rocks at the bus as it left school grounds.
Congratulations are in order for Douglas' Sean Molina and Tony Ferris for winning individual regional titles at last weekend's Northern 4A championships at Hug High School.
Molina has been one of the biggest surprises in the region this whole year.
After assuming a starting job at linebacker late in his junior year, he made the switch up to defensive tackle heading into this year and was in turn named the Sierra League Player of the Year. He was also listed on the All-Northern 4A first team.
Wrestling-wise, he'd been a two-year starter in the 171-pound class for the Tigers but figured to be a long shot to defend Shane Miller's regional title in the 189-pound class last year.
Coming into this season, he'd never won an individual tournament in his high school career. I'm told he often says that he can describe the ceilings of many gymnasiums throughout Nevada and California because he spent so much time on his back looking up at his opponent early on in his career.
This season, he put together a 37-6 record and won the Lowry Invitational, the Carson Valley Classic and the Spring Creek Invitational before picking up the regional win.
Heart and perseverance are hard things to pick up on tape, but hopefully college coaches will take notive of this talented athlete and give him a shot somewhere next year.
Sean Molina, sr., wrestling and Dany Heidt, jr., girls' basketball. Both athletes for reasons listed above.
Also considered this week were Ferris, Pardee, Waggoner, Kevin Emm (boys' basketball), David Laird (boys' basketball), and Devin Barker (wrestling).
