R-C Sports Notebook: Staking a claim for the title

In their final tune-up before the dual match that essentially will decide the Sierra League title, the Douglas High wrestling team put together a very impressive performance.

The Tiger grapplers won six individual titles, placed eight in the finals and brought home 13 medals while taking the team title at the Lawrence Miller Invitational in Martinez, Calif.

Douglas has steadily been piling up the accolades this year, but winning the league title over their archrivals, the Carson Senators, Wednesday night would probably be the crowning acheivement of the season so far.

Suddenly, though, Douglas is beginning to look like the frontrunner for a bigger prize once the Northern 4A Regional championships roll around. I've said it before, but if the right things happen to the right people that weekend, the Tigers may bring home their first regional title since the 2001-02 season.

- Judging from the massive amount of double-takes, just about everyone in the gym saw University of Nevada coach Mark Fox sitting in third row of the Douglas-Manogue basketball game Friday night. It's assumed he was there to see Manogue guard Keith Fuetsch, although Douglas' James McLaughlin couldn't have escaped his attention either.

- Sure everyone saw Fox, but how many people saw former Nevada women's coach Ada Gee? I have no clue why she was there, but she was.

- Apparently entirely by coincidence, the Douglas High band played the University of Nevada fight song a number of times during the game. Band director Bill Zabelsky said he had no clue Fox was even there. He said he just likes the song.

- I can't take credit for this one, but fellow reporter Robert Perea noted that there were three 3-point shots during the Douglas-Manogue girls' game that were banked in. As he said, "How many times do you even see one of those?"

- The Manogue boys went 1-of-9 from behind the 3-point arc in the first half Friday night.

- If you would have told me before Friday's game that the Douglas boys' squad would outshoot Manogue from long distance, I probably would have laughed. As it was, Douglas hit five 3-pointers compared to Manogue's three.

- Obscure stat of the week: Through six games since his return from a broken leg, James McLaughlin has yet to attempt a free throw. He was second on the team last year in free throw percentage at 75 percent and fourth in free throw attempts (47).

- Through the first half of the South Tahoe-Douglas boys' game on Saturday, only two players on either squad had more than one field goal " Both, Douglas' Tim Rudnick and Tahoe's Garrett Tinlin, each had two.

- The Douglas girls opened their game against South Tahoe with five consecutive missed shots from the field.

- Saturday, I realized, was the first time I'd seen a South Tahoe basketball game in two years. The Tahoe Tribune covered the Tiger-Viking game at the Lake last year and then also came down here to cover the game in Minden because I was out for the week with a missing appendix.

Prior to the 2002 title, when was the last time Douglas won the regional wrestling title?

- Douglas girls 71, Manogue 49. I'm not so surprised by the win, I've said from the start of the year that Douglas has a lot of talent and has the potential to be very, very good. I've even spent some time raving about their defense. This, though, was completely unexpected. Manogue is a really, really good team and Douglas put up a 29-point lead at one point. It's a credit both to the depth of the Tigers' roster and to the strength of their defense " both of which were apparently massively underrated.

- South Tahoe girls 58, Douglas 56. Douglas followed up its most impressive win in several years with a complete head-scratcher the next day. On one hand, the Vikings shot the lights out. Everything they put up seemed to go in. On the other, Douglas had trouble settling into a rhythm offensively. Douglas was the better team on the floor, but the Vikings just played the game of their life. Simple as that.

- Fallon boys' basketball. This is probably the fourth or fifth time I've written about the Greenwave in this section, but after wins over South Tahoe and No. 7 Carson last week, Fallon is looking like a legitimate Sierra League No. 2 seed. It's not out of the question to consider them as a darkhorse to advance to the regional title game with the right matchups in their favor. It would, of course, mean getting past Reno somehow, but as we've seen in recent weeks, Reno isn't quite the juggernaut it's been in years past.

- Lowry wrestling wins Spring Creek Invite. Lowry has been the higher-ranked team all year, but this was the first real head-to-head opportunity the Buckaroos have had against the traditionally powerful Spring Creek Spartans. The Buckaroos came away victorious while Spring Creek settled for third.

- Not-so-much: Manogue boys' 63, Douglas 60. Everyone seems to be touting the Miners as the elite team in the league. There is some truth to that in terms of overall talent, but I've been waiting to see how they respond to an off-shooting night, much like they had against Douglas on Friday. This game was a couple bounces of the ball from going the other way. The Miners are going to live and die by their outside shooting. If that goes away during the playoffs, they may be looking at an early ticket home against an upstart team like Spanish Springs or McQueen.

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. Austin Morgan, Reno; 2. Bobby Hunter, Manogue; 3. Keith Feutsch, Manogue; 4. James McLaughlin, Douglas; 5. Taelor Marchbanks, Spanish Springs.

Girls' Basketball

1. Jessica Waggoner, Douglas; 2. Ashley Armstrong, Manogue; 3. Stephanie Rovetti, Reno; 4. Danielle Peacon, Reed; 5. Erica MacKenzie, Reed

Winter Sports

1. Jessica Waggoner, basketball

2. Nico Barker, wrestling

3. Hillary Sapp, skiing

4. James McLaughlin, basketball

5. Taryn Williams, basketball

6. Crystal Rutledge, skiing

7. Parker Robertson, basketball

8. Dillon Spates, wrestling

9. Tim Souza, wrestling

10. Nick Hales, basketball

If there were more names on the list: Cale Pete, basketball; Dany Heidt, basketball; Chris Downs, basketball; Eddie Kollar, wrestling; Wes Peterson, 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. Taryn Williams, volleyball/basketball

4. Nico Barker, football/wrestling

5. Parker Robertson, football/basketball

6. Dany Heidt, soccer/basketball

7. Ally Freitas, soccer/basketball

8. James McLaughlin, basketball/football

9. Luis Pina-Duarte, football/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)

- I only caught the very end of the NFC championship game and the very beginning of the AFC championship game.

I'll tell you one thing, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh's challenge on the Steelers' supposed touchdown catch has to be on one hand the luckiest, and on the other the most brilliant challenge in the history of NFL replays.

Granted, the call had little to do with the outcome of the game, but just as everyone was waiting for Pittsburgh to challenge the call as to whether the ball had crossed the goal-line or not, Harbaugh up and throws his flag asking whether the ball was even caught.

What on the surface looked like an obvious catch and possible touchdown ended up being called back.

If you don't make sure your television is prepared for the Feb. 19 changeover to digital broadcasting, the only thing you'll be able to see on your set is repeated showings of my failed and uncomfortably awkward American Idol audition tape. Just consider yourself warned.

- This one will be filed under "Things I'd heard about and dreaded, but never thought would actually happen." Last week, I went in to get my daughter up from her nap and discovered that she'd not only figured out how to remove her diaper, but also used the contents as toys ... all over the crib. Enough said.

- With the season premiere finally here, I'm about out of theories ... and pretty much out of interest also.

Irrational Fear: Pirates

Guilty Pleasure: Hook

Douglas won the team title in 1982, as well as in 1981. The 1981 title was the first the school had won in the large school classification (Douglas moved up to the AAA class in 1979-80 school year). Incidentally, current wrestling head coach Lamont McCann was a standout wrestler for the Tigers during both of those title seasons. He went on to win an individual state title in 1983.