Douglas' McKenna Kynett (24) drives the lane in a narrow 51-49 win over North Valleys in the opening round of the NIAA north playoffs at Douglas High.
MINDEN — Maddy Lowe sank the second of two free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining Wednesday night to lift Douglas High to a 51-49 victory against North Valleys in a first-round Northern Division I Region Tournament girls basketball contest that literally came down to the wire.
Lowe’s free throw broke a 49-all tie and then Douglas (22-5 overall) watched as North Valleys missed two free throws with 2.3 seconds showing on the clock at Randy Green Court.
North Valleys (15-10) held two-point leads on three occasions inside the final three minutes, however, the Panthers weren’t able to close it out.
“Playoff basketball … live to play another day … we survived … use any cliché you want,” Douglas coach Werner Christen said.
“Give them credit for fighting back,” he added. “And give credit to our kids. We have a lot of people who are sick right now and they gave a gutsy effort. I’ve never been so proud of a team’s performance.”
Senior forward Leonna Mortimer scored a game-high 20 points, 17 of which came in the first half, and grabbed 10 rebounds to spark the Douglas attack. Corryne Millett contributed a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds and Lowe added 10 points.
Douglas led by as many as 11 points twice — 15-4 in the first quarter and 26-15 with 5:52 left in the second quarter — only to see North Valleys fight back.
Morgan Daniels scored 15 points, 13 of which came in the first half, while Passion Burrell added 13 and Karolina Perez 10. Burrell, a 5-foot-10 junior, sank shots that gave North Valleys leads of 45-43 and 49-47 while Sami Dinan scored on a follow shot that gave the Panthers a 47-45 lead.
Douglas faces two-time defending state champion Reno in the region semifinals Friday at 7:15 p.m. at Carson High’s Morse Burley Gymnasium.
BASEBALL
WNC falls
Western Nevada College didn’t take any cuts against 2014 Major League Baseball top-10 draft pick Phil Bickford on Wednesday night in Henderson, but the Wildcats did face some quality pitching.
Anthony Martine and three relievers combined to limit the Wildcats to six hits and second-ranked College of Southern Nevada held on for a 5-4 nonconference baseball victory.
The Coyotes needed to bring in closer Josh Nuernberg for the final two innings after Jake Bennett’s three-run homer pulled WNC within 5-4 in the seventh inning. Nuernberg (2-1) retired all six Wildcats he faced, including three by strikeout, to pick up his third save.
WNC closer Connor Zwetsch was equally as imposing after he entered the game in the seventh with the Wildcats trailing by a run. He struck out five Coyotes in his two innings of work.
WNC, now mired in a four-game losing streak, received some solid starting pitching as well. Freshman Ty Fox held CSN scoreless for the first three innings before the Coyotes pulled away with a pair of two-run scoring flurries during the middle innings.
Fox made his first college start after three relief appearances, and he capitalized on the opportunity. The right-hander (0-1) allowed five hits and four earned runs in his five-inning stint.
He struck out four and walked one.
WNC scored first when David Modler doubled in Austin Andrews.
WNC (6-6) will continue play against the SWAC teams when it meets College of Southern Idaho at 4 p.m. today in Henderson.
