Anytime Carson High comes to town, it's certain to be a battle to the finish.
That won't be any different this week as the rival Tigers and Senators meeting up for one of the more intriguing late season grudge matches in recent memory.
The girls' game offers a bit of everything. Neither the Tigers or the Senators have clinched a playoff spot just yet, although both can do so if Carson beats Fallon Tuesday night.
In that scenario, what Friday's game would determine, is playoff seeding for one or both teams -- more importantly, who will have to face Reno and who will have to face Reed in the first round.
Now, if Carson loses to Fallon Tuesday, that would open the floodgates in terms of playoff possibilities. That would mean a Greenwave win over Wooster on Friday and a Carson loss to Douglas would leave the Senators out in the cold. In the same scenario, a Douglas loss to South Tahoe Tuesday, a Senator victory over the Tigers and a Greenwave win over Wooster on Friday would leave Douglas on the outs.
Final scenario: any Fallon loss this week puts both Carson and Douglas into the playoffs.
On the boys' side, Douglas has already been eliminated from playoff contention by virtue of Friday's loss to Manogue.
They can, however, still play the role of spoiler against Carson Friday night.
If Carson loses to Fallon Tuesday night (they lost 52-43 the first time around) and Damonte can find some way to beat top-ranked Manogue Tuesday night along with beating South Tahoe, a Douglas win over Carson would leave the Senators out of the playoffs.
The is about the only situation where that would possible. A Carson win over Fallon or a Damonte loss to Manogue on Tuesday clinches a playoff spot for the Senators.
- Spanish Springs girls' coach Christine Eckles was at Friday night's Douglas-Manogue game, presumably to scout likely first-round playoff matchups. As it turned out, though, with Carson's win over Galena, it may be the Grizzlies that the Cougars end up playing in the first round next week. Time will tell.
- My car needs new wiper blades.
- The Lady Tigers showed more of an up-tempo look against Manogue Friday night, which helped Douglas to a 19-13 lead in the first quarter. That ability to push the ball up the floor helped Douglas get two wide-open looks from behind the 3-point line late in the game.
When was the last time the Douglas High wrestling team went without an individual regional championship?
- Carson girls upset Galena. In a continuing show of the parity within the Sierra League, Carson picked up its second upset win in as many weeks by slipping past the Grizzlies. IN the grand scheme of things, it doesn't change a whole lot as Manogue will still have to win its final matchup with the Grizzlies to have a shot at the league title and Carson will still have to win one of its two games this week to clinch a playoff spot.
- McQueen wrestling. For a period of time over the weekend, the Lancers had a real shot at winning the regional. This coming from an unranked team that didn't win its league title and showed little at area invites during the year. As it was, McQueen finished as the regional runner-up to Spanish Springs.
- Joe McDonald. McDonald was a non-scoring wrestler for the Tiger wrestling team entering this weekend's regionals. Despite not seeing many matches during the league dual season, he still made the championship semifinals.
- South Tahoe girls top Wooster. Wooster is really a pretty good basketball team and South Tahoe picked up its second upset win of the year.
- Not so much: Elko boys beat No. 4 Spanish Springs. Elko has picked up a major upset win in each of the last three weeks. Before beating Hug a couple weeks ago, the Indians were winless in league play. With two wins this week, they could clinch a playoff spot. After beating Galena, a potential Sierra League playoff team, 61-53 Saturday, Elko is certainly making its case that it belongs in the mix.
If I had a vote for overall player of the year in the Northern 4A Regional basketball honors ballots (and I don't), this is what it would look like, based mostly on their respective performances over the last week:
Boys' Basketball
1. Bobby Hunter, Manogue; 2. Austin Morgan, Reno; 3. Keith Feutsch, Manogue; 4. Garrett Adams, Fallon; 5. Josh Butler, Damonte Ranch.
Girls' Basketball
1. Jessica Waggoner, Douglas; 2. Emily Burns, Galena; 3. Ashley Armstrong, Manogue; 4. Stephanie Rovetti, Reno; 5. Erica MacKenzie, Reed
The top athletes, regardless of sport, at Douglas High determined by production during competition, overall value to their team, ability to perform with consistency in routine situations, performance compared to others at the same position throughout the state/region, ability to come up big in clutch situations, versatility, attitude, sportsmanship, overall athletic ability, heart, potential at the next level, and a host of other intangibles (emotional leadership, role-playing value, work ethic, etc.) This is all, of course, just my opinion.
Winter Sports
1. Jessica Waggoner, basketball
2. Nico Barker, wrestling
3. James McLaughlin, basketball
4. Hillary Sapp, skiing
5. Parker Robertson, basketball
6. Wes Peterson, wrestling
7. Tim Souza, wrestling
8. Eddie Kollar, wrestling
9. Nick Hales, basketball
10. Cale Pete, basketball
If there were more names on the list: Dany Heidt, basketball; Chris Downs, basketball; Dillon Spates, wrestling; Michael Sepulveda, wrestling; Justin Freeman, wrestling; Tyler Cook, wrestling; Ally Freitas, basketball; Tim Rudnick, basketball.
2008-09 School Year
1. Jessica Waggoner, volleyball/basketball
2. Tim Rudnick, football/basketball
3. Nico Barker, football/wrestling
4. Parker Robertson, football/basketball
5. Dany Heidt, soccer/basketball
6. Ally Freitas, soccer/basketball
7. James McLaughlin, basketball/football
8. Luis Pina-Duarte, football/basketball
9. Katie Dry, soccer/basketball
10. Niki Hamzik, tennis/basketball
Since I've been here (2003)
1. Luke Rippee, football/basketball/baseball (2003)
2. Jessica Waggoner, volleyball/basketball/track (2005-present)
3. Brittany Puzey, basketball/softball (2003-04)
4. Tim Rudnick, football/basketball/baseball (2006-present)
5. Bridget Maestretti, volleyball/basketball/softball/track (2004-08)
6. Tyson Estes, football/basketball/baseball (2003-05)
7. Ryan Pruitt, football/wrestling/baseball (2005-07)
8. Mike Gransbery, soccer/basketball (2004-07)
9. James McLaughlin, football/basketball (2006-present)
10. Kayla Dunn, volleyball/softball (2004-05)
"You've all heard that you don't tug on Superman's cape, but this is you don't tug on Superman coach's cape ..." ESPN radio talk show about Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin's criticisms of Florida coach Urban Meyer last week.
- Since my daughter started walking, my overall reach has grown about six inches.
2004-05. It was the last of a three-year stretch that Douglas went without a regional champ.
