Dayton High's basketball team won several tight games en route to winning the Lahontan League regular-season championship.
One of those was a 46-44 win over South Tahoe back on Jan. 11, which avenged a 51-49 non-league loss to the Vikings back on Dec. 10.
Dayton basketball coach Jason Santos expects another tight game when his Dust Devils, 19-5, host the Vikings, 11-11, at 6 p.m. today in the first round of the 3A playoffs.
Simply put, this is the most important game Dayton has played all year, and the stakes are huge. A win and the Dust Devils will be traveling to Las Vegas for the state tournament, while a loss ends their season.
"South Tahoe is pretty unpredictable," Santos said before Thursday's practice. "They have some big wins (Fallon and Sparks), but they lost twice to Whittell. They are scary because you don't know what you're going to get.
"It's a huge advantage to be at home. I expect a playoff-type atmosphere and a very close game."
In games decided by 10 points or less, Dayton has posted a 10-1 record. The only loss was the aforementioned two-point loss to South Tahoe. The Dust Devils are undefeated at home.
"I feel we have a good chance to win. I'm going to call it 50-50," South Tahoe coach Chris Proctor said. "I know that coach (Jason) Santos has his team prepared. I do think our boys are battle tested, and this is not the biggest challenge they've had."
Santos said much of practice this week has been studying film from the previous meetings and figuring out the best way to attack the Vikings' defense.
"They are pretty physical," Santos said. "They like to run and jump on defense. Once you get past halfcourt they will trap you. They will pull off a guy and come trap the ball on the first pass.
"We've been working on when to attack and how to attack. When we pass the ball and they trap we have to get the ball back in the hands of the guy that made the first pass because he's going to be open. We just have to play smart basketball and take care of the basketball."
Dayton will do some trapping of its own, and expect the Dust Devils to play some zone and some man-to-man.
"They score most of their points in the paint (Peter Pieleat-Strayer and Wade Norberg)," Santos said. "Their guards like to get the ball inside."
Santos said containing Pieleat-Strayer would be critical.
"We'll front him and double him," Santos said. "We've been playing pretty good man defense, so we won't stay in a zone all the time. He's a physical player."
Pieleat-Strayer averages 14.4 a game, while the 6-foot-6 Norberg averages 4.8. Kory DiGrande averages 5.6 points a contest.
Dayton's offense is led by Dylan Taylor, who averages 17.8 a contest. The Dust Devils have five others who average at least five points a contest. Marcos Macias is Dayton's second-leading scorer at 7.7 a game.
"He (Taylor) is a natural scorer," Proctor said. "He is someone they look to create for himself. He will penetrate and shoot or penetrate and dish. He's a skilled offensive player, and we're going to have an answer for him. What worries me is when you concentrate so much on one player then routinely someone else is going to step up and surprise you."
Jake Koch and Kage Walker are both capable of knocking down 3-point shots, and Macias can create off the dribble and find open teammates.
NOTES: South Tahoe's Justin Dalton is coming off a fractured finger, but is expected to play. Santos said a couple of players had the flu earlier this week, but appear to be getting their legs back ... For those of you who can't make the game you can listen on KTHO 590 AM or 96.1 FM.
