Tigers claw past Fallon

It was a toe-to-toe battle against former rivals.

But the four-headed monster beat a three-headed one as Douglas slipped past Fallon, 53-44, on Saturday in a nonleague matchup at he Elmo Dericco Gym.

The Tigers were led by 16 points each from Corryne Millett and Leonaa Mortimer, while McKenna Kynett and Maddy Lowe each added nine.

As for Fallon, the Lady Wave were led by 14 points from Megan McCormick, 13 from Maggie O’Flaherty and 11 from Ali Tedford.

With the win, Douglas improved to 11-3 overall, while Fallon fell to 5-6. Fallon played at Fernley on Tuesday, but results were not available at press time.

“They beat us back on defense quite a bit,” Fallon coach Anne Smith said. “There is something to be learned from that. I was really pleased with how the girls played. Hopefully hanging with a team like Douglas, that will give us some confidence.”

Douglas clung to a 39-37 lead to open the fourth quarter, but Mortimer tallied six points to push the Division I Tigers past their DI-A foe.

Fallon, meanwhile, went cold from the floor and struggled to hit its open shots.

“We missed some free throws,” Smith said of the fourth quarter. “We had four turnovers … bad passes trying to force the ball in. That was the difference in the fourth quarter.”

After Mortimer put Douglas up 45-37 early in the period, Tedford drained a 3-pointer to trim the lead. The Tigers went on a 6-1 run capped by Mortimer to all but ice the game.

If the outcome was still in doubt, a pair of free throws late in the game by Millett slammed the door shut.

One difference, though, was Douglas’ transition game as Mortimer or Millett would sprint down court after a rebound or turnover to beat the Fallon defense.

“That’s sort of been our story this year, get the ball to the bigs,” Douglas coach Werner Christen said. “We are able to do that when we defend and rebound. When we run we are a lot better. Our bigs do a great job of running the lanes.”

Fallon, though, opened the game by slicing through the Tigers’ full-court press leading to several easy layups and an early 10-7 lead.

Douglas, however, closed the period with an 11-2 run as Lowe tallied two points and Mortimer four.

“Morty is Morty,” Christen said. “She just does some things where we shake our heads and go how’d she do that.”

In the second quarter, Fallon rebounded and used its press to frustrate the Tigers and slow their offense.

The Lady Wave opened with baskets from McCormick and Janelica Galera and took a 24-20 after four points from O’Flaherty and another basket by McCormick.

Douglas regained the lead on a basket by Kynett and took a 27-25 halftime lead on a jumper from Millett.

“They had us scouted real well,” Christen said. “Everything we threw at them, they did a good job of attacking us.”

The third quarter was much of the same as the two teams continue to trade blows.

Millettt and Kynett opened the period with four points each and Mortimer added a layup to push the lead to 39-29 and put Fallon on the verge of being blown out.

The Lady Wave, however, responded with an 8-0 run highlighted by five points from Tedford and a jumper from O’Flaherty.

Despite the loss, Smith was pleased with the emergence and confidence of O’Flaherty. The senior transfer from North Carolina provided a spark, ignited by a 3-pointer to open the game and O’Flaherty’s confidence grew as the game progressed.

More importantly, however, is Smith may have found another perimeter scoring threat as the season moves on.

“She drove the ball and read the defense. She did a great job,” Smith said of O’Flaherty. “If we can get (Madison) Perazzo to finish underneath we will have four. We know she can do it.”