DAYTON - The Dayton girls basketball team overcame a three-point halftime deficit to beat South Tahoe 29-25 on Tuesday night.
Dayton trailed 5-4 after the first quarter and found itself down 15-12 at halftime.
It was a different story in the second half, as the Dust Devils made a run at the Vikings in the third quarter. Maribel Ledezma's steal at the top of the key in South Tahoe's offensive end and ensuing layup gave the Dust Devils a 16-15 lead two minutes into the second half. Ledezma, on two more nearly identical plays, scored back-to-back-to-back layups, pushing Dayton to a 22-21 lead after three quarters.
South Tahoe regained the lead at 23-22 with six minutes remaining in the game before Dayton's Erin Edison fed Marissa Martinez under the basket at the 2:45 mark to put Dayton ahead for good, 26-25.
Dayton turned up the pressure defensively, turning to a full court press late in the game. The Dust Devil defense held South Tahoe to 10 points in the second half and just four in the fourth quarter.
"It was a tough game. That last portion made the difference," said Dayton coach Cliff Serawop. "We went to a full court press to make them see something different, to try and get some turnovers. It was a hard fought game. I'm happy."
Amber Brooks led Dayton with 10 points, while Ledezma and Martinez each scored six.
Ellen Dupree scored 10 for South Tahoe and grabbed 12 rebounds.
The Dust Devils improve to 5-9 with the crossover win. Dayton travels to Elko on Friday.
