Jackson’s 18 points helps Wave down Dayton

The Greenwave showed no letdown Friday night after winning the Rail City Classic the week before New Year’s.

From winning the opening tipoff to a pesky Dayton team that came within nine points in the second quarter, Fallon cruised against the Dust Devils, 80-43, Friday in a Northern 3A game at the Elmo Dericco Gym to improve to 13-1 overall, 5-1 in league. After suffering a double overtime loss to Elko on Dec. 21, the Wave have now won six consecutive games with Lowry coming to the Lahontan Valley on Friday.

Fallon plays Lowry at 7:30 p.m. The Lady Wave faces Lowry in a 6 p.m. game, the first time the two teams have face each other since the Wave defeated the Lady Bucks in the 2018 state 3A championship game.

The Wave clicked like a well-oiled machine in the first quarter, taking a 10-0 lead before Dayton scored its first points. After David McFalls tallied the game’s first basket on an assist from Hayden Strasdin, Elijah Jackson buried a 3-pointer from the right side, and John Cooley followed with a trey from the top of the key.

Dayton cut Fallon’s lead in half on a 3-pointer from Lance Peterson and a 5-foot jump shot from Joshua Pasasouk. After Pasasouk’s basket, it was a case of “roll Wave roll” as Fallon doubled up on the visiting Dust Devils, 12-6.

Thomas Steele had a spinning layup, McFalls added a basket and Jackson overwhelmed the Dayton defense with an underhand floater and a slam dunk after a steal. Jackson didn’t stop there. He opened the second quarter for the Wave with a two baskets and a free throw after Dayton fouled the Greenwave junior on a 2-on-2 drive to the basket.

Coach Chelle Dalager said Steele leads by example.

“He leads through his work ethic,” Dalager said. “I wouldn’t trade his work ethic for anything. He works a 100 percent all the time.”

After Dayton called timeout, McFalls and Jackson went back to work, combining for six points.

The Dust Devils came within 9 points, 33-24, after Keerat Bhullar drilled a 3-pointer, but Fallon surged ahead on a 13-5 run to lead 46-29 at halftime.

Trey Rooks, who missed the first part of the season with an injury, had a putback basket, and Steele drove down the middle for a basket, and Brock Richardson sunk a shot from the left side.

“Trey rebounds really well, but he feels frustrated when a shot doesn’t fall, but I’m not worried about it,” Dalager said.

Dalager cited Richardson’s game and the way he uses his quickness on defense to disrupt the opponent’s game plan. The second-year boys’ coach played her entire bench in both the third and fourth quarters.

“The reserves did great,” she said. “We didn’t lose anything. I’ve said earlier we are very fortunate I can bring 10 kids on the floor. We lose a little bit of scoring but that’s it.”

Strasdin floated a 10-foot jump shot and added a layup, while Steele also had a jump shot off a steal and layup. Cooley and Rooks combined for 3 of 4 from the free-throw line.

Jackson had the highlight video of the night near the end of the third quarter. He raced down court after a steal, threw the ball against the backboard and then sprung up for a thunderous two-handed slam dunk that electrified the partisan Greenwave crowd. Jackson led all scorers with 18 points, followed by Steele’s 14 points.

“He’s just an impressive athlete,” Dalager said. “This year he’s been amazing to coach. In practice he holds everybody accountable. He’s the guy in practice who works really hard … and is a leader. Teams work hard to shut him down, but they can’t.”

Fallon’s depth was too much for Dayton to overcome in the final quarter. The Wave continued to drive inside against a tired Dayton squad, and Rooks positioned himself with his inside game as he scored on a layup, a 5-foot turn around jumper and another basket from the right side. He also sunk a pair of free throws to finish the game with 11 points.

McFalls and Richardson each added 9 points, Strasdin had 6 and Cooley 5. Avery Strasdin finished the game with 4 points, and Jace Harmon and Shaw Lee each had 2.