Boys' Basketball: Douglas scores monumental comeback win over Galena

There may come a time when the Douglas boys' basketball team can look back on this season and pinpoint the moment it turned around.

If so, the fourth quarter against Galena Saturday night will probably go down in the books as that moment.

Douglas put together a furious rally, coming back from 20 points down with a incredible 29-6 run over the final six minutes to steal a 71-68 win from the Grizzlies in Minden.

"This is by far the craziest game I've ever been a part of," said Douglas senior James McLaughlin, who tied for the team lead in scoring with 17 points. "I can't even describe what we were feeling. We were down 20 and we knew we had to do whatever it took to win the game. That was it. We had to get a 'W' tonight."

All told, the Tigers outscored Galena 31-9 in the fourth quarter and came up with stops on the Grizzlies final seven trips down the floor. The Grizzlies ended up hitting just two field goals in the final quarter.

"For some reason, we just knew what we had to do," said senior Parker Robertson, who also finished with 17 points. "At the beginning of the game, I don't know, I guess we were kind of crusing, thinking we'd just get back into the game. We really got after in the fourth quarter. That's what we had to do."

The Tigers appeared to be headed for their 13th loss of the season as Galena opened up a big lead early with a 24-point first quarter.

Douglas tightened up a bit in the second, outscoring the Grizzlies 15-11 but Galena stretched it back out with a 24-14 third quarter. A basket from Victor Walker and a free throw from Alex Hanson stretched the lead to 62-42 with 6:31 remaining.

Then, slowly, the tide started to turn.

McLaughlin hit a 3-pointer with 5:56 left and Robertson and Tim Rudnick each added a basket in the next minute to cut the lead to 62-49.

A McLaughlin runner was followed quickly by a basket from Galena's Mike Arcinega with 3:58 to set the score at 64-51. That would end up being Galena's last field goal of the game.

"What helped us come back was our guys started getting some stops and then we were sharing the ball on the offensive end," Douglas coach Corey Thacker said. "We didn't share the ball for the first three quarters. We were trying to force shots and they weren't falling. Guys starting turning the ball around and getting open shots in the fourth and that was a big thing for us."

Robertson followed a pair of Galena free throws with a bucket in the paint and Austin Neddenriep hit a 3-pointer to close the gap to 10 at 66-56.

"We were getting those stops and then our big guys, you have to give them credit, they did a great job tonight," Thacker said. "When they got the ball inside, they were getting the ball up and getting to the free-throw line. It was a good game for all of them."

Robertson drew a foul on a made basket and converted the free throw with 2:22 left to close the gap to 66-59. Rudnick rebounded a Galena miss at the other end, and fired the ball up court to McLaughlin hit a 3-pointer and drew a foul in the process.

He converted the shot to cut the deficit to three points and Neddenriep scored on a runner to make it 66-65 Grizzlies after Galena had tossed the ball out of bounds on the other end.

A pair of free throws from Alex Hanson put the Grizzlies back out with 1:06 remaining, but that would end up being Galena's last points of the night.

Robertson hit the front end of a pair of free throws and McLaughlin rebounded a miss on the second, kicked the ball outside to Neddenriep who hit a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left to give Douglas its first lead of the night at 69-68.

Robertson rebounded a Galena miss with 31 seconds left and hauled in yet another with 12 seconds left, setting up a McLaughlin basket.

Galena had one more shot to tie the game, but McLaughlin redirected the final shot to seal the win.

The Grizzlies were led by Hanson with 19 points while Arcinega had 11 and Walker had 10.

Douglas (4-12, 2-2) got 13 points from Cale Pete, 10 points from Neddenriep, eight from Chris Downs, two from Rudnick and one each from Nick Hales and Tyler Hoelzen.

Douglas gets a brief rest during finals week before hosting top-ranked Manogue Friday.

"This was huge," McLaughlin said. "We wanted to get to .500 in league play, especially with the way it is shaping up. We knew we needed a win and it worked out tonight. Getting the win, that will help us focus heading into the Manogue game. We just want to give them our best shot on Friday."