The Douglas boys' basketball team was looking for some kind of spark heading into the fourth quarter Friday night. Any kind of spark.
They got it from an unlikely combo.
While Douglas regularly cycles in its entire roster to the game, usually in the first half, it was the designated second-team group - which hasn't seen a lot of time on the floor together during actual games - that came through.
"We call them our Black team," Douglas coach Corey Thacker said. "They're our "2s" and they're always in there banging around against each other during practice."
The unit, which includes starting center Jorey Scott, Kameron VanWinkle, Nick Maestretti, Jeremy Burkhart and Luis Pina-Duarte, erased a four-point Damonte Ranch lead late in the third quarter and ran up a 10-point lead to open the fourth.
The Tigers ended up needing every bit of that as they held on for a 70-67 win over Damonte Ranch in Minden.
"We were trying to find guys that would make some stops, that was the main thing," Thacker said. "They had a good spot at the end of the third quarter where they got us the tie.
"We went with them to start the fourth and they came out and really got it going. They were going up the line and keeping pressure at the spots we wanted. Our kids have worked hard as a group and that's how it breaks down. You put it on any group of guys on the roster out there and they can carry you through."
Trailing 41-37 with two minutes left in the third quarter, the Tigers clamped down defensively and didn't allow the Mustangs to score another point until 6:33 remained in the fourth.
They barely even let Damonte past halfcourt during that stretch, stringing together a 12-0 run in the meantime.
After a Matt Nuthall three-pointer, Maestretti was fouled on a layup and converted the three-point play at the free throw line and Pina-Duarte finished with a layup to bring the total run to 17-3, giving Douglas a 54-44 lead with 6:06 left.
Nuthall, who led all scorers in the game with 33 points, went on a tear during the final period to keep the Mustangs in the game. He hit five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to draw Damonte to within one with 13.4 seconds left.
On the following trip, Douglas' Chris Downs hit a pair of free throws (he hit four of four during the final 30 seconds of the game) to give the Tigers 70-67 lead and Brett Anderson blocked a 3-point shot from Damonte's Lane Armstrong as time expired to preserve the win.
Freshman Hunter Myers led the Tigers with 13 points, Downs had 10, Austin Neddenriep had nine, Scott had six, Maestretti had five, Pina-Duarte, VanWinkle, Anderson and Theo Denson had four each, Garrett Getty had three and Burkhart and Matt Thomas each had two.
Douglas (13-8, 8-2) moved a win closer to clinching a playoff spot after missing out on regionals last year. Another Tiger win or a Galena loss makes it official.
"There are four games left," Thacker said. "We have to keep concentrating on what's next. We can't go any further than that. Wooster (Tuesday) will be tough on the road. The second time through the league is much tougher. Every coach out there is working hard, trying to take what you did the first time and counter it.
"We just have to keep at it and getting better every day."
