PREPS: Douglas' depth too much for McQueen

MINDEN - There's been little question this season that the Douglas boys' basketball team's greatest team strength is its depth.

That depth, particularly in the front court, carried the Tigers past McQueen Tuesday night in a 53-38 win. Douglas improved to 10-2 on the year overall and 4-0 in Northern 4A play.

Douglas' three primary big men - Hunter Myers, Jorey Scott and Matt Thomas - combined for 28 points, 25 of which came inside the paint.

The performance was made even more impressive considering the Tigers' 1-for-11 performance behind the 3-point line.

"Our big guys really made a difference inside," Douglas coach Corey Thacker said. "Their big guy (CJ Grigg) did a good job, but the nice thing with our team is we can rotate through three or four big guys and try to make you guard all of them."

The Tigers opened up a 29-9 lead in the first half, holding McQueen scoreless for about seven minutes.

The Lancers, though, closed out the half on a 4-0 run, which they extended into an 11-0 run through the first two minutes of the third quarter.

While Douglas was cold from outside, McQueen nailed five 3-pointers in the second half to close the deficit down to its final five points.

"We had a size advantage but they outrebounded us in the second half," Thacker said. "That's a credit to them. "We started to slip up in our team defense and they knocked down some shots."

Douglas did limit Joe Saarem, who Thacker called McQueen's best scorer, scoreless.

"Theo (Denson) did a really good job on him and the team stepped up on him," Thacker said. "He's a great scorer and a great player.

"We're just happy to come out with a win. They are a well-coached team."

Douglas travels to defending regional champion Manogue Friday night at 7:30 p.m.

"We can't let up," Thacker said. "We have to turn things up and try to keep this going."

Myers finished with a game-high 17 points, Austin Neddenriep had 13, Denson had eight, Thomas had six and Scott had five.