Douglas High girls basketball
Riley Mello talks with her father and Douglas High girls’ head coach Brian Mello during a contest two seasons ago. Both are anxious to see what the Tigers can do on the floor this winter after nearly a two-year layoff.
Photo by Ron Harpin.
Douglas High girls’ basketball has already got the tables turning on its first season in nearly two years, with several players returning to the team who haven’t necessarily seen much action on the varsity floor.
The Tigers are 1-1 after an eight-point loss in the season opener to Reno, but followed that with a dominant performance over Elko Thursday.
Up and down the roster, Douglas has size and speed to give everyone in the region a tough time.
Head coach Brian Mello has three senior captains in Campbell Dedmon, Kat Butalon and Riley Mello.
Both Dedmon and Butalon were on the varsity team as sophomores, but hadn’t quite experienced a heavy dose of varsity minutes.
“Campbell at point guard is controlling the offense and the defense. Kat played a little bit her sophomore year, but we are going to rely heavily on her,” said coach Mello. “I think Riley is going to get a lot of attention on her.”
Against Reno, Mello didn’t get much space to catch and shoot after having an effective sophomore campaign in which she shot 46 percent from the field and 49 percent from beyond the arc.
The three senior captains will be a big part of the team’s identity in which the Tigers will rely heavily on their overall athleticism.
Juniors Addy Doerr and Camden Miller are two of a few Tiger players coming off of fall sports campaigns who will be thrust into major roles as well.
“Camden Miller is probably our most versatile player,” said Mello.
Other juniors include Gabrielle Wallace and Abigail Girdner.
Aleeah Weaver, Talia Tretton, and Zora Simpson will be the three sophomores on the team this winter.
Setting it up
Offensively, Douglas will continue running its motion offense and Mello expects the Tigers to be able to mix it up a little bit between attacking the rim and beating teams with the deep ball.
“We have some good shooters, we have some girls who can get to the rim, we have some bigs. So we will try to mix it up,” said Mello. “Zora Simpson can shoot the ball real well, Campbell can shoot it too.”
A unique touch for the Tigers this season is Mello is giving his defensive leaders freedom to set the defense as they see fit.
“I am really trusting our point guards on defense to mix it up as they see fit,” said Mello. “We played around with it this summer season.”
Mello, much like every other coach around the region, isn’t really sure what to expect from other programs until he and the Tigers get a chance to see them on the floor or on tape.
However, for his squad the second-year head coach thinks December will be a good window into where the Tigers will stand.
“All the puzzle pieces are right there, we are just trying to figure it out. I’ve really been looking forward to coaching this group,” said Mello.
