Douglas High boys basketball
Theo Reid (35) goes up for a shot attempt in the paint Tuesday night against Damonte Ranch. Reid had four points in the Tigers' loss.
Photo by Ron Harpin.
Douglas High boys’ basketball is quickly showing Northern Nevada it is not to be taken lightly this season.
Despite an 86-78 loss in overtime to Damonte Ranch Tuesday night, the Tigers pushed the Mustangs to the brink on several occasions.
Inside the final 15 seconds of regulation, the Mustangs had a chance to take the lead, but freshman guard Caden Thacker stepped in front of a driving offensive player to draw a crucial charge.
The change of possession allowed Douglas to get the final shot off in regulation, but the Tigers’ final attempt clipped rim and backboard before falling to the floor.
Tied at 72-all, the two squads needed an extra four minutes to decide a winner.
Ultimately, Damonte Ranch was able to get a couple of quick buckets to start the overtime period and pulled away to an eight-point win.
“A game like that is good learning experience, but obviously you want to be on the other side of it,” said Douglas head coach Corey Thacker. “The stuff we worked on, the mistakes we were making. We just have to get better.”
After Douglas jumped out to a 13-point lead early in the second quarter, it was the opening of the second half where Damonte Ranch took control.
The Tigers led 33-20 and 38-32 heading into the locker room, but a 24-8 third quarter in favor of the Mustangs flipped the script and left the Tigers trailing, 56-46, heading into the fourth.
“We were up six at the half and then giving that up right away, that doesn’t help,” said Thacker. “You can’t give up 24 points in a quarter. That’s hard to cover up. … Being disciplined on defense is where we made those mistakes.”
Damonte’s Rex Thorson put together a 12-point fourth quarter and a 19-point second half to keep the Mustangs rolling.
However, Douglas slowly chipped away at the lead, taking advantage of the Mustangs’ misses on the other end of the floor.
Kasen Boggs hit a putback basket and then poked a steal loose, leading to a transition triple from the wing to make it 61-53.
After a Caden Thacker interior bucket, it was Boggs who found Chris Myers for a layup in the paint.
Thomas McDowell added a putback basket of his own and cut the Mustangs’ lead to six, 65-59, with a little more than three minutes remaining.
Thorson pushed the Mustangs further in front, but Boggs trimmed the deficit to four points after earning three points the hard way and following it with a silky smooth spinning layup in transition to make it 70-66.
The senior guard hit another layup to bring Douglas within a bucket before the Tigers picked the ball loose to tie the game at 72.
Boggs ended his night with a game-high 30 points while Thacker had 11 of his own.
“We have the dudes to play for four quarters, we just have to make the decisions and have the mental toughness,” said Thacker. “If you don’t get stops, it doesn’t matter how many you put up.”
Douglas and Damonte Ranch will meet again on Jan. 21 in Minden.
UP NEXT: Douglas (1-4, 1-1 in league) will go back on the road Thursday when the Tigers take on Incline (4-0).
Tuesday area Class 5A scores
Bishop Manogue 50, McQueen 44
Spanish Springs 62, Carson 36
Reed 93, Galena 61
