Wave overcomes ugly start, drops Fernley

It was not pretty, but the Fallon boys basketball team will take the win.

After a sloppy first 12 minutes to open the game, the Greenwave rolled past rival Fernley, 54-34, in a Northern Division I-A game Tuesday at the Elmo Dericco Gym.

Despite committing 27 turnovers, Fallon’s defense held the Vaqueros under 10 points in three of the four quarters. With the win, the Wave improves to 3-1 in the Northern DI-A and 4-5 overall.

Fallon hosts Dayton at 7:30 p.m. today and takes on Lowry at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

“We haven’t played a home game in a long time and I think we had some jitters,” Fallon coach Brad Barton said. “We tried to be too fancy and had way too many turnovers.”

The turnovers filled the first half and limited each club’s chances, but Fallon was still able to hit 21 of 42 shots (50 percent) for the game. Fallon led 10-2 after the first quarter and trailed 14-10 midway through the second quarter when the offense started to find its rhythm.

Jeff Evett scored six points in two possessions — one field goal and four free throws — and a layup by Connor Richardson gave the Wave a 21-14 lead. Evett had a game-high 19 points on 7 of 11 (64 percent) shooting.

Fernley, though, cut the lead to 23-20 thanks to a basket by Johnny Corbin and a pair of free throws from Brian Reyes.

“We will fix the little things … and we’ll be fine,” Barton said. “When we sub in from our bench, they give us good minutes.”

Fallon center Beau Marshall opened the second half with a pair of baskets including a dunk, while Allen Laranang, Joe Pyle and Evett each scored as Fallon capped an 11-0 run to open the quarter.

Corbin stopped the bleeding with a 3 and Carlos McIntyre trimmed the deficit to 36-28 with a 3.

Fallon’s defense, though, stifled the Vaqueros in the fourth quarter limiting Fernley to six points, while the offense put up 16.

David Ford, coming off the bench, provided a spark with five consecutive points to push the lead to 41-28.

“He turned the game around for us because he was so mechanically sound,” Barton said of Ford. “He rebounded and boxed out well.”

Tristen Salazar led the Wave with eight rebounds, three assists and six steals. Ryan Stockard added three assists and five rebounds, while Richardson chipped in with four boards, three assists and three steals.

Fernley was led by Dominic Ceresola who scored nine points and Corbin added seven.

“You are always going to have a bad offensive day, but defense will keep you in it,” Barton added.

The win keeps the Wave in third place in the Northern DI-A as they prepare for Dayton (2-3, 8-4) and Lowry (4-0, 12-1).