Admit it, Tiger fans.
You weren't sure how to feel when the Galena boys' basketball team won its first state title in school history over the weekend.
Part of you felt justified in Douglas' season ending by one point to the eventual state champion. Part felt bitter, that it should have been the Tigers hoisting that trophy. And part just felt a new hope for the future.
After Northern Nevada had been shut out of the title picture for the better part of the last 20 years, Reno and Galena strung together back-to-back titles giving the basketball community around the state pause to speculate whether a shift in power is afoot.
Quite frankly, the Northern 4A is getting better. Much better.
Sure, the argument could be made that Reno was a once-in-a-lifetime collection of players and that this year's Galena Grizzlies were a once-in-a-lifetime group but there is something much deeper going on here.
The north was busting with talent this year and not just with Galena. Either Douglas, Hug or Reno could've ended up in that state final game, and any coach in the area would concur with that.
It's not so much that we are seeing much more talent in the different schools' super-standouts, although we are, it's more that the feeder programs are getting extremely strong and that teams around here are getting looks at better competition during the offseason and the preseason.
It wasn't so long ago that it could be reasonably argued that baseball and softball were the only sports in the area that could regularly churn out Division I talent, but now we are seeing an influx not just in Division I basketball players, but Division I supertalents.
Take former Reno standout David Padgett for example. He was the first of this extraordinary run of blue chip recruits and now plays at national power Louisville.
Then there is Galena's current star, Luke Babbitt, who is considered among the top 20 recruits in the country and was expected this week to make a verbal committment to one of five finalists, three of which are currently ranked in the top 10 in the nation. Throw in Hug's Armon Johnson, who signed with No. 9 Nevada earlier this year, and Douglas' own Keith Olson who is bound for the upstart Northern Arizona Lumberjacks.
The supporting casts around these players are getting stronger through the rigorous offseason schedules and the upgrade in opponents seen during the non-league slate.
Both Galena and Douglas saw nationally-ranked opponents on several occasions this year. And both managed to stay on the floor with them, with Galena even pulling off an upset of the No. 10 team earlier this season.
And the feeder programs extend down in the the elementary school levels, where athletes get the chance not only to get the basics of a high school coach's system down, but also gain experience with the guys they'll be playing with at the high school level five or six years down the road.
Yes, it is an exciting time for Northern 4A basketball, and Douglas should be right in the middle of it through the next few years.
The Tigers lose one of its most talented senior classes in school history, but many say next year's squad stands to be more athletic. Throw in junior varsity and freshman programs that each won their respective league titles this season and it should make for an exciting run next year.
So look at it however you wish but no matter what angle you take, the future looks very bright for the Tiger boys.
We haven't put the full article together yet, but congratulations are in order to Douglas' Keith Olson, Mike Gransbery, Jeff Nady, Jessica Waggoner and Bridget Maestretti.
Olson and Gransbery were each first-team all-Northern 4A and all-Sierra League honorees in boys' basketball and Waggoner was a first-team honoree for all-region and all-league in girls.
Maestretti and Nady were each second-team all-region and all-league honorees in their respective sports.
Nate Whalin was an honorable mention all-league player for the boys and Dana Pardee earned an honorable mention for the girls.
Babbitt and Johnson shared all-region player of the year honors for the boys and Reno's Raimy Novacek and Angela Ceccarelli and Manogue's Taylor Sylvester were all-region players of the year for the girls.
With the snowy weather through Monday and Tuesday of this week, it would be easy to forget that the baseball team opens up with scrimmages at Reno Saturday afternoon. Spring, whether we are ready for it or not, is here.
Kaela Horse, sr., girls' basketball and Brandon Bernard, sr., boys' basketball. The two were strong role players for their respective teams, each boasting sharp outside shots. Both players were known for their work ethic and their off-the-floor contributions to team chemistry.
