Lady Wave drills Dust Devils

It’s done.

The only question left is whether the Fallon girls basketball will don its home whites or road greens in the first round of next week’s Northern Division I-A regional tournament in Fallon.

The Lady Wave solidified their position as either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed with a 73-20 drubbing over Dayton on Monday at the Elmo Dericco Gym on Senior Night.

Fallon’s four seniors — Ali Tedford, Janelica Galera, Maggie O’Flaherty and Shelby Smith — combined for 24 points to lead the Lady Wave past the struggling Dust Devils.

“What a great group of girls,” Fallon coach Anne Smith said of her seniors. “You’re always happy to see them move on, but it’s bittersweet because you grow so attached to them.”

The win erases the sting of Saturday’s 47-36 loss at Lowry, a game in which Fallon (11-3 league, 14-8 overall) trailed by three in the fourth quarter but was forced to foul late as the Buckaroos (13-0, 18-4) pulled away.

Now, Fallon sets its sights on finishing strong and capping the season with wins over Sparks (2-12, 3-16) and South Tahoe (6-8, 9-14) on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

“We are breaking down a lot of film,” Smith said. “They (South Tahoe) are going to be gunning for us. We are trying to stay with the task at hand with Sparks and South Tahoe.”

Fallon raced out to a 23-6 first quarter lead and never looked back. Dayton, meanwhile, only had two players score as Angela Sikora tallied 13 points and Christina Ricci added seven.

The Lady Wave, however, were led by 15 points from Megan McCormick, whose physical presence was too much for Dayton to overcome in the post. In addition, every Fallon player scored in its regular-season home finale.

As for the playoffs, whichever seed the Lady Wave lands they will most likely battle Elko (12-2, 16-8) in the first round of the Northern DI-A playoffs on Feb. 20. The possibility — however unlikely — exists for first-place Lowry (13-0, 18-4) could lose its final three games (Tuesday’s game against Fernley was not reported) to set up a showdown with Fallon in the first round.

Fallon can earn the No. 2 seed outright by virtue of a pair of losses by Elko to end the season. If Elko loses one of its remaining two games, then the tiebreaker formula would come into play.

A miraculous losing streak from Lowry aside, Fallon still has work to do in preparation for its final two regular-season games (at Sparks on Friday and at South Tahoe on Saturday) and the postseason.

Smith said her club will continue with short, intense practices to prepare for the playoffs.

“We are trying to stay intense,” Smith said. “We can’t overlook South Tahoe.”