With standout center Keith Olson on crutches and 6-8 sixth man Joe Nady home sick, the Douglas boys' basketball team got a good look at what life would be like without its big men Monday night.
Just the same, the Tigers rolled ahead to an 82-57 victory at home over Wooster, getting double figures out of four different players and a strong defensive performance from the entire team.
"They were all caught off guard a little bit," Douglas coach Rob Streeter said. "Keith has had a nagging foot injury that flared up pretty bad after the Hug game and Joe was leveled by an illness.
"We spent the first few minutes just trying to find a good shot. They did a good job bouncing back though and really worked hard to bring to a close this tough stretch."
Streeter said Olson was being evaluated on a day-to-day basis, but Nady was expected back soon. Overall, he was most pleased at how Douglas closed out the first round of league play.
"We've had three league games in four days, so the kids were pretty tired tonight," he said. "Plus, finals start up tomorrow, so it's another tough week for us. We close it out with Carson on Friday, and we know that is going to be tough.
"We're going to get them off their legs for a while and hopefully get them rested up. We'll spend some time in the classroom and watch some film and going over what's happened in the last week. Then, come Wednesday and Thursday, we're going to be preparing for Carson."
Douglas struggled to get things going Monday night as Wooster jumped out to a 4-1 lead.
That didn't last long however. David Laird, who shifted into the starting lineup in place of Jeff Nady, who'd slid over to play the post for Olson, hit a basket to get things going.
James McLaughlin then sandwiched two nice-looking layups around two Mike Gransbery 3-pointers to push Douglas out in front 13-4.
"Once we got our tempo going, we were OK," Streeter said.
The Tigers hit a season-best eight 3-pointers in the game, getting for from Gransbery alone, who finished with a game-high 18 points.
Kevin Emm scored 15 with three 3-pointers, Laird had 12 and Jeff Nady scored 10. McLaughlin finished with nine and one 3-pointer, while all but one other active player for the Tigers put point on the board.
Nate Whalin was solid on defense and made a big play to open the second half, sending the Tigers on a 12-4 run.
Wooster's Darien Andrews, who led the Colts with 16 points, was attempting to bring the ball across halfcourt and Whalin reached out and swiped the ball away from him. Both players dove for the loose ball and it was ruled a jump ball.
"It was a little thing, but that was a big play to get us going," Streeter said. "That really set the intensity for the half and everyone else kind of picked up on it."
The Tigers went on to outscore the Colts 24-9 in the third quarter and ended up winning by more than 20 points for the fourth consecutive game.
Douglas (15-6, 6-1) improved to 7-0 at home on the year. The Tigers next take on Carson Friday at 7 p.m. in Carson.
GIRLS
DOUGLAS 61, WOOSTER 29
Douglas bounced back from a tough loss to Hug to overwhelm the Colts.
Wooster built a 10-8 lead through the first quarter, but the Tigers woke up and blew past the Colts with a 28-4 second quarter.
Douglas closed out the first half on an 18-0 run and extended that to 27-0 to open the second half.
Jessica Waggoner led the way for Douglas, scoring 16 points and Dana Pardee added 12.
Bridget Maestretti score eight, Sarah Hartley, Dany Heidt and Allie Hughes each had five, Taryn Williams and Katie Buffo each scored three, Lisa Christen had two and Nicole Didero rounded out the scoring with a free throw.
Douglas improved to 9-13 overall on the year and 3-4 in Sierra League play.
Douglas bounced back from a tough loss to Hug to overwhelm the Colts.
Wooster built a 10-8 lead through the first quarter, but the Tigers woke up and blew past the Colts with a 28-4 second quarter.
Douglas closed out the first half on an 18-0 run and extended that to 27-0 to open the second half.
Jessica Waggoner led the way for Douglas, scoring 16 points and Dana Pardee added 12.
Bridget Maestretti score eight, Sarah Hartley, Dany Heidt and Allie Hughes each had five, Taryn Williams and Katie Buffo each scored three, Lisa Christen had two and Nicole Didero rounded out the scoring with a free throw.
Douglas improved to 9-13 overall on the year and 3-4 in Sierra League play.
