If the Douglas High girls' basketball team has learned nothing else from the first month of competition, at the very least they know they can play in tight games.
Through their first 15 games of the year, the Lady Tigers have played in eight games decided by three points or less. They've come out on top in three of those.
That trend was on full display this past week at the Centennial Lady Bulldog Holiday Classic tournament in Las Vegas. The Tigers went 2-3, with three games going down to the wire and Douglas winning two of those.
"We got better," Douglas coach Werner Christen said. "It's all we were looking to do. We wanted to get better against good competition. We did a good job.
"I think the consistency got better and we played better in longer stretches.
We're starting to understand as a team that if we attack the basket, with the speed we have, good things are going to happen.
"It was a nice weekend, but now we have to turn the page, take what we learned and head into league play."
The Tigers opened the Vegas tournament with a 37-35 win over Lincoln County.
Ne'Jae Jackson led the Tigers with 10 points, Jackie Harper added nine, Katie Dry and Bri Burnside each had eight and Susie White had two.
The Tigers came back from an 11-4 deficit early on to pick up the win.
"Lincoln had a nice veteran team and it was a tight game," Christen said. "We managed to hold them off and beat them. It was nip and tuck the whole way. They jumped on us early but we came back, built a little lead and we held on
down the stretch."
The Tigers fell 60-33 to eventual tournament champ Dobson, Ariz., in the following game. Dry, who ended up landing all-tournament honors for her play during the week, led the team with 15 points.
"Dobson was just too big for us," Christen said. "It was kind of a pick-your-poison type of deal. They were quick, they could shoot weel and they were very big. They just played very well."
The Tigers followed with a 59-28 loss to a sharp-shooting squad out of Temecula, Calif. Jackson led the Tigers with 10 points and Diana Regalado and Burnside each had six.
"They (Temecula) could flat out shoot it," Christen said. "We tried everything. We tried trapping, we tried man, we tried zone. They hit nine 3-pointers in the game, and they weren't open shots. We closed out well, got hands in their faces and they kept sinking them. You just have to credit them, tip your hat and move on."
Douglas then beat the Valley Vikings 35-32 as Jackson scored 12, Dry had nine, Burnside had five, Natalie Freitas had four, Harper had three and Alex Laing had two.
"That was a nice win," Christen said. "We played smart down the stretch, took care of the ball and ran some clock. We've been working on our two-minute segments and it paid off in that game."
The Tigers wrapped the tournament up with a 49-47 loss to Tech. Jackson had 18 points and Burnside had 14 points.
"I think it was a case where we played not to lose rather than playing to win," Christen said. "We had a comfortable lead throughout the game, had some 6-0 and 8-0 runs, but we started missing layups, had some turnovers and missed some one-footers and it really cost us.
"We led throughout until the final six seconds. We led by five with 1:07 left, but we had a couple of turnovers and they scored on both possessions. It was a learning experience.
"But if that loss today helps us win a game down the road, I'll take that."
Douglas (6-9 overall, 0-2 Sierra League) travels to Damonte Ranch Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. to launch into the thick of league play.
