An impressive run over the final four minutes of the game came up short for the Douglas boys' basketball team in its season-opener Thursday afternoon.
The Tigers went on a late 18-2 run, but it wasn't enough to overcome a rough start as Fairfield, Calif., held on for a 60-49 win in the first round of the Wild West Shootout at Reno High School.
"We talked about wanting to establishing the tempo early, but they were the oners setting the tempo early on," Douglas coach Corey Thacker said. "We played scared, plain and simple. They got out fast and we played scared."
Both teams showed early season jitters, trading nine turnovers in the first two minutes of the game, but Fairfield was the first to settle down, going on an early 9-4 run.
The Falcons managed to extend the lead to 17-10 by the end of the first quarter.
It was the second quarter, though, that Douglas couldn't manage to come back from. The Tigers committed nine turnovers in the quarter and got outscored 19-2. They went into the locker room trailing 36-12.
"We just weren't flying around like we should be in the first half," Thacker said. "We were too tentative. We wanted to set the tone and we didn't do that."
The all changed in the second half. The Tigers' press defense created 14 turnovers and outscored the Falcons 37-22.
"We didn't change anyhing, we just had to get back to basics and get guys open offensively because we are a freelance offense this year," Thacker said. "Defensively it was just about making the tips and creating the offense.
"In the third quarter, we came out flying around and we didn't commit any turnovers on our end. That's what we wanted to do from the start."
Douglas was led by freshman post Hunter Myers, who scored 10 points and went 4-for-6 at the free-throw line.
"I thought he played very well," Thacker said. "He still had a couple freshman moments where he missed a couple he usually doesn't miss, but for his first game out he did well. Same thing with (sophomore) Nick Maestretti."
Austin Neddenriep had nine points, Chris Downs had eight, Jorey Scott had seven, Garrett Getty had six, Kameron VanWinkle had five and Matt Thomas had two.
"We can be pretty deep if guys are playing hard," Thacker said. "If we can make the stops on defense, it won't matter which five we have out there. We can't have any letdowns, everyone has to hold up their end."
