Wave nabs first league win

A cold shooting spell killed the hopes for the Truckee boys basketball team to steal a win against Fallon on Friday.

The Wolverines were on the wrong end of a 40-30 loss to the Greenwave, while coach Skye Nelson was visibly upset with several questionable calls during the second half.

“It was a tough basketball game,” Fallon coach Brad Barton said. “Truckee came out with a game plan and executed it. They stayed in a 2-3 most of the game.”

Both teams struggled to find any rhythm on offense as turnovers and missed shots plagued each team in the Northern Division I-A matchup. It was the first league win for Fallon (1-2), while Truckee is still winless (0-3).

“The home team won. The home team won,” Nelson said.

Fallon jumped out to an early 8-0 lead behind a layup from Braxton Hunter, a 3-pointer from Jeff Evett and three points from Clay Davison.

Trailing 11-2 after a 3 from Davison, Truckee answered with a 7-0 run to close the quarter. Nick Oberriter drained a 3 and Chase Vankirk and Cam Hollabaugh each scored to trim the lead to 11-9.

“We were just trying to take what they gave us,” Barton said. “We haven’t had a team play us in a zone the whole game, so actually it was good practice for us.”

Truckee’s shooting warmed in the second quarter as the Wolverines took a 20-15 lead after a 3 by Vankirk.

Fallon, though, went on a 7-0 run on a trio of baskets by Evett for a 22-20 halftime lead. He had a game-high 15 points, while Davison added 10.

Vankirk led Truckee with nine points, while Oberriter chipped in with six.

“We just played hard and are a lot smaller than those guys,” Nelson said.

Fallon’s height played a strong role in rebounding as Evett and Davison stand about 3-4 inches taller than Truckee’s biggest player. The Wave dominated the boards and used the second chance opportunities to hold their lead.

As a result of the height disparity, Truckee was forced to shot from the outside. The Wolverines sank five 3s, but the lack of an inside game favored Fallon.

The third quarter, however, was filled with missed chances as both teams struggled to find the basket.

Brandon Barnes and Evett opened the frame with back-to-back buckets for a 27-20 lead, but Truckee once again stopped the short-lived momentum.

Justin Wadsworth added a jumper and Hollabaugh nailed a 3 to pull Truckee within 3.

But Fallon was too much. The Wave closed the game on a 6-0 run as Connor Richardson scored four points and Hunter added two.

“We did probably should’ve put more ball pressure on them,” Barton said. “Next time we will have a full team so they can’t run their offense effectively as they did.”