SOUTH LAKE TAHOE " The student section was fired up, as the Douglas Tigers were crumbling under a second-half comeback by South Tahoe High on Tuesday night in South Lake Tahoe.
But after trimming a 16-point halftime deficit to one point, the Vikings got a little too excited, and a pair of player technical fouls helped the Tigers hold on for a 61-56 Sierra Division boys' basketball victory.
Chris Klug scored eight straight points in the fourth period, pulling the Vikings within 52-51 with 5 minutes, 25 seconds remaining. But senior Danny Vallejo was assessed his second technical foul of the final quarter 90 seconds later, and the Tigers took advantage as Tim Rudnick canned both free throws for a 56-51 lead.
South Tahoe had several opportunities to slice Douglas' lead to a point in the closing seconds, but a pair of three-point attempts by Kyle Dupree went in and out. Dupree, however, made two free throws to trim Douglas' lead to 58-54 with :31 to go. Rudnick got one point back at the line with :24.1 remaining, but STHS didn't go away. McQuade Brubaker made 1 of 2 chances at the line, and Kyle DiGrande rebounded the miss and was fouled while toeing the three-point arc with :11.1 left. DiGrande converted one of the attempts.
The Tigers didn't seal the win until Chris Downs made two free throws with 7.5 seconds remaining for a five-point lead.
Douglas took control by outscoring the Vikings 24-8 in the second period for a 40-24 halftime edge. James McLaughlin and Luis Pina-Duarte each found the range from beyond the arc twice in the first half.
But the Vikings rallied behind the play of Klug, Kyle DiGrande and Peter Pielaet-Strayer. Pielaet-Strayer scored 10 of his 13 points in the third period, and DiGrande added five as the Vikings outscored Douglas 20-9 to get within 49-44.
DiGrande hit a season-high three trifectas to score a career-high 16 points. Klug finished with 16 as well.
McLaughlin led Douglas with 18 points.
Douglas 61, STHS 56
Douglas
Downs 1, 2-2, 5; Rudnick 1, 6-9, 8; Pina-Duarte 3, 0-0, 8; McLaughlin 8, 0-0, 18; Getty 1, 0-0, 2; Neddenriep 1, 0-0, 2; Hales 1, 0-0, 2; Pete 3, 2-3, 8; Scott 1, 2-2, 4; Robertson 2, 0-2, 4. Totals 22, 12-18, 61.
South Tahoe
Klug 7, 1-1, 16; Eidam 0, 2-2, 2; DiGrande 6, 1-2, 16; Tinlin 1, 0-0, 2; Dupree 1, 2-2, 4; Pielaet-Strayer 5, 3-4, 13; Braun 1, 0-0, 2; Brubaker 0, 1-2, 1. Totals 21, 10-13, 56.
Douglas 16 24 9 12 " 61
S. Tahoe 16 8 20 12 " 56
Three-pointers: Pina-Duarte 2, McLaughlin 2, Downs; DiGrande 3, Klug. Fouled out: Braun.
