Boys' Basketball: Douglas topples North Valleys

After giving up a basket to North Valleys' Jesse Bajwa 40 seconds in to the game, the Douglas High School boys' basketball team barely gave another inch Friday night.

The Tigers held the Panthers without a field goal over the next 8 minutes, 50 seconds and cruised to a 70-48 win in Minden.

With the win, Douglas improved to 11-6 overall and 3-0 in Sierra League play heading into next weeks' tough slate with rival Carson, top-ranked Reno and South Tahoe on deck.

"One thing we've been working on is getting all 12 guys to play together and do things right as a team," Douglas coach Corey Thacker said. "We were pleased with the effort we put forth as a team tonight."

While forward Parker Robertson was in street clothes due to an ankle injury, every remaining member of the Tigers' roster was able to contribute with substantial minutes against the Panthers.

After Bajwa's basket, Douglas launched an 11-0 run that included seven points from center Jeff Nady.

Nady led all scorers with 24 points, while James McLaughlin scored 14 an David Laird added 11.

McLaughlin had a pair of highlight-reel slam dunks in the game, including a monster two-handed jam that he launched from outside the paint on a breakaway to open the Tigers' scoring in the second half.

For all the offensive fireworks, however, Thacker said the true highlight of the night was his team's play on defense.

"Our goal, like I keep saying, is to hold our opponents under 50, which we did, and we really try to focus on keeping the other team away from their offensive boards," he said. "We only gave up four rebounds on their end, so that was good."

Thacker subbed liberally throughout the game and managed to extend the lead in the fourth quarter with many of the starters on the bench.

"With all our guys we really try to stress that once you get the lead, you don't just want to protect it, you want to increase it," he said. "We were able to do that."

Bajwa led North Valleys with 19 points while Will Bell added 13.

The Panthers managed to close the deficit to just eight points late in the first half after an 8-0 run during which Bell scored twice on breakaways.

Nady put together a personal 5-0 run in the final 49 seconds, however, to stretch the lead back out.

Douglas got nine points from CJ Marcotte, four from Kevin Emm, three each from Nick Hales and Tim Rudnick and two from Ross Bertolone.