R-C Sports Notebook: Buzzer-beaters, history lessons and belligerent burgers

I smiled a bit when Paul Cagle hit his game-winning 3-pointer against Douglas last Tuesday. Not because I enjoy watching Douglas lose, mind you, but because the shot brought Cagle full circle from last year's game between the two schools in Minden.

For those who were at the game last year, it was similarly down to the wire " although Douglas did lead by 18 at one point in the third quarter " and it was Cagle who took the final shot of the game.

A Douglas defender got a hand on the shot and deflected it away, sealing a 70-68 overtime win.

So it was ironic, at the very least, that Cagle had the ball in his hands for the final shot last week. He was open, the shot was true, and Carson walked away with the three-point win.

Cagle, by the way, has been a thorn in the Tigers' side over the past several seasons, particularly from outside the 3-point line. It's safe to say Tiger fans won't be missing him too much next year.

This is just for the sake of statistical comparison, but there is a certain trend that has followed the Douglas girls' basketball team over the past five years that works quite well in their favor.

Douglas has consistently performed better in the second half of the Sierra League season than in the first " as a matter of fact, in all but one season over the last five, Douglas has posted a better record through the second half than in the first.

Counting Friday's win over Fallon, Douglas has a .741 winning percentage during the second go-around in league play over the past five seasons compared to a .647 percentage on the first go.

Granted, the margin is slight (about three or four games to be exact), but there is no coach in the world that would pass up on a team that plays its best basketball of the year down the stretch.

With the Fallon win, Douglas already avenged one of its first half losses. A win against Galena Tuesday night would leave only South Tahoe that needs avenging. Of course, the Tigers also still have to deal with the four teams they got past in the first round, so there are no guarantees. But, historically speaking, things look pretty good for Douglas heading down the stretch.

- Referees around the region are wearing pink whistles in honor of the Cure for Cancer program through Saturday.

- Congratulations to the Douglas band for finding the right beat on "Rubber Band Man," thus making it the best pep band song ever.

- I tried Burger King's "Angry Whopper" last week and came away disappointed. It's more slightly perturbed or mildly ticked.

- The Fallon boys' basketball team did not get to the free-throw line in the first half against Douglas.

Prior to the Carson City Duals this year, when was the last time Douglas beat the Senators in a wrestling dual?

- Elko boys' basketball 56, No. 3 Hug 51: This is the biggest upset of the year by far, with Elko picking up its first league win against the highly-touted Hawks. What it shows is there is indeed a lot of parity in the High Desert League (Elko would be fighting for a playoff spot in the Sierra) and that it is very tough to play in Elko.

- No. 4 Spanish Springs boys' basketball 71, No. 5 McQueen 50: The biggest surprise here is that McQueen lost by 21 at home. There's no question Spanish Springs is a great team, it's just I don't think anyone expected them to win by that much. Considering the amount of senior talent in the area, and the amount of young talent on the Lancers' roster, I look at McQueen as the program most likely to make a run in the next couple of years as Reno and Hug taper off a bit.

- Just prior: McQueen girls 55, No. 4 Spanish Springs 49: The Lady Lancers moved themselves into contention for the No. 3 slot in the High Desert with this win. These two teams are going to be important to fans of the Lady Tigers in the near future because it is mostly going to be one of the two that Douglas gets paired with in the first round of the playoffs. So keep an eye out, that's all I'm saying.

- Carson wrestling tops Douglas for Sierra League title. This one was even closer than the two-point final score showed. At any point, a matter of centimeters could have turned this match on its ear either way. Kudos to Carson for taking an early (huge) gamble that essentially proved to be the difference in the match.

- Not so much: No. 5 Manogue girls 63, No. 3 Galena 45: This had to happen if Douglas was going to have any remaining hope of winning the league title. Now, Douglas needs to keep winning and they need someone else (I'm looking at you, Carson) to step up and beat the Grizzlies.

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. Garrett Adams, Fallon; 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

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. Hillary Sapp, skiing

4. James McLaughlin, basketball

5. Taryn Williams, basketball

6. Parker Robertson, basketball

7. Dillon Spates, wrestling

8. Tim Souza, wrestling

9. Nick Hales, basketball

10. Cale Pete, basketball

If there were more names on the list: 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

2007-08 school year

1. Bridget Maestretti, volleyball/basketball/track

2. Tim Rudnick, football/basketball/baseball

3. Jessica Waggoner, volleyball/basketball/track

4. David Laird, football/basketball

5. Sarah Hartley, soccer/basketball/track

6. Jessica Gorton, basketball/track

7. Jeff Crozier, soccer/baseball

8. Brock Peterson, football

9. Tanner Thomas, baseball/football

10. Jeff Nady, football/basketball

Seriously, What IS "G"? I hear it might be flavored Gatorade water, but I'm too creeped out by the dancing masked men on the commercial to follow through on it.

- Apparently, a little boy in the nursery at church tried to give my daughter a hug last week. She wasn't having any of it. Now if she can just keep this up for another 20 years ...

- We found out in last week's episode that the events of last season's finale sent the island skittering outside the space-time continuim, landing momentarily at various moments both in the past and the future. The writers were hoping it would finally land somewhere back when people still cared about the show.

Nov. 30, 2005: Douglas beat Carson 36-31 to open the Sierra League season.

Irrational fear: As alluded to above, "G"

Guilty Pleasure: Crystal Pepsi