Douglas High basketball

Tiger hoops celebrates Senior Night

The seniors of Douglas High boys basketball pose Friday on Senior Night. From left to right are Luke Main, Caden Thacker, Daron Kizer, Evan Tolbert, Jesse Messick, Bryce Townsend and Daniel Ward.

The seniors of Douglas High boys basketball pose Friday on Senior Night. From left to right are Luke Main, Caden Thacker, Daron Kizer, Evan Tolbert, Jesse Messick, Bryce Townsend and Daniel Ward.
Photo by Ron Harpin.

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Douglas High boys and girls basketball both celebrated their seniors Friday against Spanish Springs

Each team has seven seniors.

The Tigers got lined up against the top team in the Class 4A North for both tilts as the boys fell to Spanish Springs, 79-64.

While Douglas celebrated its seniors, it was Cougar senior Travis Lee who put on the biggest show of the night.

The Spanish Springs sharpshooter broke the school record, downing nine 3-pointers on his way to 34 points. He finished the evening 9-of-14 from beyond-the-arc.

Caden Thacker, who had 17 points and a pair of assists in the loss, led Douglas. Thacker, who has been a four-year varsity player, reflected on his career postgame.

“I am proud of myself and proud of what this coaching staff has done. Obviously, I got to play with my dad for four years. Not a lot of people get to say they played with their hero and I do,” said Thacker. “Definitely don’t take that for granted.”

Junior Noah Kizer tallied 11 points and three rebounds for the Tigers while seniors Trent Ipsen and Daron Kizer each recorded 10 points.

UP NEXT: Douglas (11-11, 8-6) closes the regular season with a Tuesday contest at Damonte Ranch (14-8, 9-5) followed by the regular season finale at Carson (7-17, 2-12) Friday night.


COUGARS SPOIL TIGERS’ SENIOR NIGHT

Douglas High girls basketball had the toughest team in the North waiting in the wings, following the Tigers’ Senior Night celebrations Friday.

Spanish Springs was able to jump on Douglas early with an 18-8 lead after the first quarter. The Cougars only added to that, outscoring Douglas 28-9 in the third en route to a 66-38 win.

Senior Giana Zinke posted a team-high 10 points in the loss while fellow senior Ashlyn Greenfield had seven points of her own.

Junior Hailee Koontz had six points and 11 rebounds for Douglas.

“I’ve been crying the last 10 minutes so it means a lot,” said Zinke. “The fact that we don’t get to come back is really hard, but I have enjoyed every single second. I could not be more grateful for the experience I’ve had playing for Douglas.

Fellow senior Annie Hill recollected on the path the seven seniors took, playing together and against each other since middle school.

“We’ve played together since the third grade. By now, there are seven of us that still play. I think it creates a really strong bond between us girls and we’re all so close. We would do anything for each other.”

UP NEXT: Douglas (10-12, 6-8) will play its final two regular season games on the road against Damonte Ranch (5-17, 5-9) and Carson (8-14, 4-10) on Friday.

(Douglas High girls basketball celebrated Senior Night on Friday against Spanish Springs. From left to right are Lily Auchenbach, Giana Zinke, Annie Hill, Madison Frisby, Ella Girdner, Ashlyn Greenfield and Kaylee Bradford. / Ron Harpin)