R-C Sports Notebook: Hug win big in many respects

It's been hinted at all season, but until Saturday night, no one around the Northern 4A would've readily tabbed the Douglas boys' basketball team as a regional title contender.

After a late collapse against Reno, many dismissed the Tigers from the title hunt despite their deep and talented roster.

In the week and three days since that loss to the Huskies, Douglas has done everything within its power to make its case as a bonafide contender.

The Tigers' 93-72 win over Hug Saturday was as close to a masterpiece as I've seen in my 19 years watching Douglas athletics.

Shots were falling, loose balls were rolling the Tigers' way, passes hit their mark, the rebounding was superb and there was little at all Hug could do in return.

Hug is exactly the type of team that has given Douglas fits this season " quick, athletic, explosive on offense and relentless on defense. Heading into the game, the Hawks had all the ingredients " a Division I-caliber scorer, strong outside shooters, a full-court press on defense " to pull off the win.

But, quite simply, Douglas made a statement Saturday night that its own gameplan, when at its best, is going to be very tough to beat down the stretch.

Although the votes have yet to be tallied, they have a shot to enter the second half of the season as the region's top ranked team.

Senior guard/forward Nate Whalin is proving to be one of the better defenders around the north, and his effort in the first half against Hug's Armon Johnson, was nothing short of superb. Johnson was limited to 10 points, and while he ended up with 34 on the night, Whalin and a number of other Tigers kept enough of a wrap on him that he was never allowed to take the game over.

It was a similar situation three weeks ago at North Valleys when Archie Kovich poured in a game-high 33 points, but a furious opening four minutes gave Douglas enough of a cushion to push ahead for a 14-point win.

Outside of the loss to Reno, no other team in the Sierra League came within in 19 points of the Tigers in the first go-around.

Douglas' big horse, Keith Olson has been solid (scoring 20, 20, 29, 11, 2 and 16 points in his six league contests so far this season) but in each of the Tigers' league games, Douglas has had at least two other players finish in double figures with exception to the Reno loss.

Against Hug, the Hawks couldn't clamp down on any one threat as Jeff Nady (18), Mike Gransbery (16), Kevin Emm (14), Joe Nady (12) and David Laird (11) all joined Olson in the double-figures club.

Also, almost without exception, the Tigers' departed from their slower-tempo, halfcourt philosophy and pushed the ball against Hug, showing that their depth will allow them to play at just about whatever tempo they want to play as the season progresses.

Watch these next few weeks. They should provide for some very entertaining basketball.

Streeter has been saying since the season began that the second-half of the schedule fell distinctly in Douglas' favor with Reno, Hug and North Valleys all having to make the trip to Minden.

Talking about entertaining races " the Northern 4A Regional wrestling title is up for grabs.

On any given week, Fallon, Damonte Ranch, Carson, Douglas or Galena could walk away with the title.

At this point, it's too tough to tell.

Fallon, Carson and Douglas have been in the same tournaments several times this year, but each team has been missing several key components in alternating weeks, so there really isn't a clear picture as to who has the best shot.

Carson has been consistently tough despite missing a large bulk of its roster these last few weeks. They have two tournament wins in the last two weeks, although neither had other Northern 4A elite programs.

Douglas prevailed at its home tournament, but Fallon was the top Northern 4A team a week later at the Spring Creek invitational.

Reason should stand that the regional champ will be one of those three, but Damonte Ranch and Galena are both set up to enter the championships in the dark horse role.

Damonte has been very impressive on California soil and could surprise everyone at regionals, and Galena looks to have a strong and deep roster, having traveled a similar California circuit through the middle of the season.

I'm not one who's big on calling particular groups of people out.

That being said, South Tahoe fans, you start looking a little silly when you're still taunting the other team while your school trails by 29 points in the fourth quarter.

Douglas football standout Brent Koontz has been offered preferred walk-on status with Nevada, but rumor has it that Cal Poly has come on board, showing interest in him over the last few weeks.

National signing day is in the first week of February.

Koontz, a 6-2 linebacker, was the Northern 4A defensive player of the year and an all-state selection.

Nate Whalin, sr., boys' basketball and David Laird, sr., boys basketball. Whalin had a huge week, signing a college letter of intent with WNCC to start the week and then turning in a strong defensive effort against Hug's Armon Johnson Saturday night.

Laird strung together a series of strong games as Douglas beat Carson, South Tahoe, Hug and Wooster consecutively. He had 10 points against Carson, 11 against Hug and 12 against Wooster.

He is a solid change-of-pace option for Douglas at the post, giving the Tigers four viable options at the position.

Others considered this week were Keith Olson (basketball); Mike Gransbery (basketball), Jessica Waggoner (basketball); Dana Pardee (girls' basketball), Ryan Olsen (wrestling) and Garrett Hekhuis (wrestling).