MINDEN - Entering Friday night's game at Douglas, the Manogue boys' basketball team had won its first 39 Sierra League games since joining the division in 2008-09.
That all came to and end in Minden Friday. But it took every last stop the Douglas Tigers had for it to happen.
Douglas blasted the Miners in the first half, building a 32-8 lead with solid rebounding and tough defense (not to mention some cold shooting from the Miners) to send Manogue into the locker room in shock.
It was Manogue, though that came out firing in the third quarter, using a 25-4 run highlighted by four
3-pointers (two each from Brennan Hogan and Niles Lujan) to cut the score to
40-33.
The top-ranked Miners later cut the score to five, but would get no closer as Douglas pushed ahead for a 58-47 win on Senior Night.
The high-flying Miner offense was held to its lowest point total of the season. It was also the Miners' lowest scoring output since a 60-40 loss to Newark Memorial, Calif., in the second game of the 2009-10 season.
They went just 14 of 56 from the field, including 5 of 32 from behind the 3-point line.
"You have to credit our guys for stepping up defensively, but you know they are a good team, they were getting open looks and it just wasn't falling for them," Douglas coach Corey Thacker said. "Part of it, I think, was them being cold. It was one of those days for them.
"But our guys, we ran our stuff and did what we wanted to do on defense. We executed our stuff on offense and that led to a lot of points."
Not to be lost in Manogue's nightmarish night from the floor was Douglas' 40 rebounds. The Tigers only allowed Manogue to grab two offensive boards in the second half.
"That was big," Thacker said. "The little things were big tonight. They are a high-powered offense and their shots weren't falling. We still had to do our job underneath the glass to keep them from getting second-chance baskets."
Douglas also got a huge night from its seven seniors, who all played significant minutes in their final regular-season game at home.
Matt Thomas led the charge with 14 points while fellow senior Austin Neddenriep added 10.
"Every one of those guys is a guy who steps up when we need them to," Thacker said. "Every time we have challenged them, they have stepped up. There's not a single guy I can mention - They all deserved it tonight."
Douglas opened up the game on a tear, using a 15-0 run over the last five minutes of the first quarter to take a 19-2 lead.
The highlight of the first half came with 5:42 left as Neddenriep bolted down the left side and floated a pass high above the rim from outside the arc. Hunter Myers got both hands on the ball and slammed it home, bringing the standing-room only crowd to its feet as Douglas went up 24-5.
Manogue managed only a pair of baskets and a pair of free throws in the second quarter as the Tigers stretched the lead to 32-8.
Douglas got baskets from Thomas and Neddenriep to take a 36-8 lead early in the third, but Manogue quickly started to claw back into the game.
Manogue's Lujan put up 11 of his game-high 24 points during the third-quarter run. All 24 of his points came in the second half.
GIRLS
Manogue jumped out to a 26-6 lead in the first half Friday night and never looked back, cruising to a 52-23 win over the Douglas girls' basketball team.
Bri Burnside led the Tigers with nine points. Carly McCullough had four points and Holly Downer and Jackie Harper each had two.
Douglas dropped to 2-12 in league action with the loss.
