CARSON CITY - For the first 12 minutes, the Fallon girls basketball team looked like it had played its last game of the season.
However, the Lady Wave rallied from 10 points down to beat Douglas, 46-33, in a 4A Sierra League play-in game on Tuesday at Carson High School. It is the first time the Lady Wave has made the playoffs in five years.
Fallon will face No. 1 Reno at 7 p.m. tonight at Reno High School.
The Tigers controlled the tempo and scoreboard for most of the first half, but Fallon chipped away at the lead and trailed 24-22 at halftime.
"Sometimes a lot of good things have to happen," Fallon coach Chelle Dalager said. "We got some key steals and started rebounding a little bit ... our offense came alive."
Douglas senior Ne'Jae Jackson torched the Lady Wave for 13 points in the first half. The Tigers trailed 6-5 early in the first quarter, but went on a 9-0 run to regain the lead.
Fallon struggled to handle the Tigers' aggressive defense early in the second quarter, and fell behind 22-12 after a basket by Jackson. Jackson also held Fallon's leading scorer, Sara Parsons, to seven points in the half.
However, the Lady Wave closed the half on a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to two.
"I don't know if we stopped being aggressive," Douglas head coach Werner Christen said. "Our shots weren't falling and it sort of snowballed. Bottom line is they (Fallon) had too many second shots."
Both teams struggled from the field in the third quarter, combining for five field goals and 13 points. Fallon, though, scored eight of those points to regain the lead at 30-29.
Douglas' shooting woes continued in the fourth quarter and Fallon's pressure defense forced numerous turnovers. The Lady Wave held the Tigers scoreless for about six minutes and broke the game open.
Fallon countered with a 16-0 run, highlighted by eight points from senior Kenyah Brown to take a 46-31 lead. Jackson fouled out with 1 minute, 26 seconds left in the game.
"I think everyone realized what we needed to do to win," Brown said. "When we had our defense (going) we got a lot of steals and our momentum picked up."
