The Douglas girls' basketball team trailed twice in the third quarter to a tough North Valleys squad but came back to pick up their first Sierra League win of the season, a 43-37 triumph in North Reno Tuesday night.
"There were a couple times where we could've got down but they just rolled their shoulders back and stuck it out," Douglas coach Werner Christen said. "The bottom line is that we played hard and we executed when we had to."
North Valleys got up by four early in the second quarter, but Douglas bounced back with a 6-0 run, all on points by Jessica Waggoner, to take a 15-13 lead.
"We got down by four and that could have been it," Christen said. "We got a couple of stops though and we took care of the ball offensively."
Waggoner led the Tigers with 20 points and 23 rebounds as Douglas improved to 7-10, 1-1 on the year.
Douglas was coming off a tough week of six consecutive practices.
"We had a successful time down in Vegas (at the Centennial Lady Bulldog Classic in late December) and we played well down there," Christen said. "We got back and got some practice time that we really needed.
"Last week was tough and we had some kids sick or hurt, but they were mentally tough and they got much better. We've really started to see them start to become a team these last few weeks. They enjoy each other and they are a close bunch."
Sarah Hartley also hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to help the Tigers put the game away and Douglas got four points apiece from Taryn Williams and Dany Heidt, three points from Bridget Maestretti, two points each from Kaela Horse and Nicole Didero and one point from Allie Hughes.
Aside from the gym lights going out with 20 seconds left in the game, causing a seven-minute delay, there were no real fireworks, thanks to the stingy Tiger defense.
Waggoner was fouled with time dwindling on the clock and then the gym lights shut off.
"It was pretty bizarre, we've never had a light delay in basketball before," Christen said. "Their school district runs on a computer timing system and they just forgot to switch it back when the students returned from Christmas break.
"It was a riot. (Assistant coach) Andy (Hughes) was trying to draw plays up for the girls in the dark."
After a seven-minute delay, the light came back on and Waggoner drained one shot to put the Tigers up by six. From there, neither team scored again as Douglas held on for the win.
"That was a nice win against a good team on the road which was something we needed," Christen said. "Some people are picking North Valleys to finish second or third, so that was important for the girls to see they could compete.
"There were two hard-working teams on the floor last night and the difference ended up being Jessica. They just didn't have an answer for her.
Douglas next plays at Reno Friday night at 5:15 p.m.
-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
