Douglas High girls basketball
Douglas High interim coach Jason Carter gets into the action Tuesday night in the Tigers' home game against Bishop Manogue
Photo by Ron Harpin.
Bishop Manogue was able to defeat the Douglas High girls’ basketball team for the second time this season, but Tuesday’s 61-53 defeat was a much improved showing from the first time the two squads met.
Of course, playing in Minden was an edge for the Tigers, but Douglas countered most attempts from the Miners to pull away.
Right from the tip, Douglas fell behind 10-0 but responded with eight consecutive points of its own.
The Tigers were able to work their way into quality rebounding position, pulling down 12 offensive boards Tuesday night.
By halftime, Douglas led 29-28.
A back-and-forth third quarter left the Miners in front 41-39 at the end of the third quarter before Bishop Manogue’s second run sealed the deal.
A 12-0 run after Douglas scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter gave Bishop Manogue a 53-41 lead, which the Miners held onto the rest of the way.
“I was excited because as we walked back into the locker room and hearing the excitement of what they had done,” said Douglas interim coach Jason Carter. “There are no moral victories. It’s still a loss. That’s hurtful, but understand what they did and accomplished. … They’re tired. They were working hard.”
Camden Miller put together a double-double with a team-high 18 points and 10 boards. Miller added six assists and three steals as well.
Riley Mello put up five points for the Tigers, but pulled down 15 rebounds.
Katrina Butalon had nine for Douglas while Addy Doerr and Abigail Girdner had eight and seven points, respectively.
Changing coaches down the home stretch of a season is never an easy ask, but Carter feels as though the girls are up to the challenge.
“I think it speaks to their resiliency and their family attitude of sticking together,” said Carter. “Hats off to them. It’s not an easy situation for them to deal with and go through.”
Getting to know the new coach
Carter has been a basketball coach for the last 20 years, but is stepping into his first job being a varsity head coach.
Carter served as an assistant previously under the Werner Christian era of Tiger girls basketball among others.
“Our focus is on the next (four) games,” said Carter. “We’re jockeying for a playoff spot. … We’re turning the page, next step forward and staying positive with one another.”
Douglas has clinched a postseason slot, sitting at 7-5 in Class 5A league play, but is still battling for the highest seed available.
“Taking care of the ball is one thing, but then focusing on the next game,” said Carter. “Defensively, we will keep mixing it up and making us kind of difficult to try and figure out.”
Douglas (12-7, 7-5) has four league games remaining to try and solidify the No. 4 seed. The Tigers will need some help if they want to get any higher up the ranks before the season finale.
UP NEXT: The Tigers head to Spanish Springs (5-18, 3-10) Friday night looking to pick up the season sweep over the Cougars after earning a 45-39 win at home a little more than a month ago.
