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ENLARGE
TRUCKEE, Calif. — The visiting Incline girls' basketball team seemed poised for an upset of its larger neighbor as Tori O'Connor and friends torched the Truckee defense early in Tuesday's Mount Rose League matchup.
But the Wolverines' size and skill eventually caught up to the Highlanders, and Truckee turned a first-half deficit into a 53-35 win.
“We gave it away in the second half,” said Incline head coach Wayne Nash. “We quit doing what was working for us. We didn't attack the rim at all in the second half. We just went stagnant.”
Truckee learned quickly that it could not defend Incline in the half court with its man-to-man defense. O'Connor helped prove that point, as the senior point guard went off in the first quarter to lead her Highlanders to a 15-7 lead.
O'Connor did a little bit of everything in the quarter. She opened the game by blasting past her defender and scoring a layup. She then made a nifty reverse layup and hit a runner in the lane to push Incline's lead to 8-3, then popped two shots from outside, including a three-pointer just before the first-quarter buzzer sounded. In 8 minutes, O'Connor had 11 of Incline's 15 points.
“We had some man-to-man matchup problems, particularly with their No. 23,” said Truckee head coach Geoff Stephens, referring to O'Connor. “Once we went to the zone, we were able to shut her down, and once we were able to do that, we settled in.”
After switching to the zone defense, Truckee slowed Incline's scoring pace while posting the first six points of the second quarter to pull to within two points. Incline's Molly Franklin banked in a three-pointer and Kerrie Tonking followed with a bucket in the paint assisted by O'Connor, but the Wolverines finished the half on an 8-0 run — part of a 14-5 run in the quarter — to take a 21-20 lead into the break.
“I was surprised to be up by one,” Stephens conceded.
The trend continued after the half, as Truckee went on to outscore Incline 16-3 in the third quarter to take a commanding 37-23 lead.
Senior center Aleigh Krug, at 6 foot 3, and senior guard Sassy Graham made the difference, scoring all but two of Truckee's points in the quarter. Graham started the quarter by draining two open shots from the perimeter, and Krug used her size and shooting touch to post 10 of her game-high 25 points.
“You've got to give her (Krug) credit. She was hitting her shots in the second half,” Nash said. “And then we left that other guard (Graham) open a couple times, and that made it 10 points real quickly.”
The Highlanders, who enjoyed some success with their full-court press in the first half, struggled to slow the Truckee offense with it in the final two quarters.
“A lot of what we got early was from the press. But then we went away from it and weren't decisive in putting it on,” Nash said.
O'Connor scored a team-high 14 points as the Wolverines limited her to just one three-pointer after her hot first quarter. Tonking scored six points for the Highlanders and Kortney Solis had five. For Truckee, Krysta Murphy posted 10 points and Sydnie English had six off the bench.
Truckee improved to 4-0 in Mount Rose League play and 10-5 overall with its sixth straight win, while Incline fell to 2-1 in league and 6-13 overall. The teams meet again Feb. 10 in Incline.
“We get another shot at them, and we'll be ready,” Nash said.
But the Wolverines' size and skill eventually caught up to the Highlanders, and Truckee turned a first-half deficit into a 53-35 win.
“We gave it away in the second half,” said Incline head coach Wayne Nash. “We quit doing what was working for us. We didn't attack the rim at all in the second half. We just went stagnant.”
Truckee learned quickly that it could not defend Incline in the half court with its man-to-man defense. O'Connor helped prove that point, as the senior point guard went off in the first quarter to lead her Highlanders to a 15-7 lead.
O'Connor did a little bit of everything in the quarter. She opened the game by blasting past her defender and scoring a layup. She then made a nifty reverse layup and hit a runner in the lane to push Incline's lead to 8-3, then popped two shots from outside, including a three-pointer just before the first-quarter buzzer sounded. In 8 minutes, O'Connor had 11 of Incline's 15 points.
“We had some man-to-man matchup problems, particularly with their No. 23,” said Truckee head coach Geoff Stephens, referring to O'Connor. “Once we went to the zone, we were able to shut her down, and once we were able to do that, we settled in.”
After switching to the zone defense, Truckee slowed Incline's scoring pace while posting the first six points of the second quarter to pull to within two points. Incline's Molly Franklin banked in a three-pointer and Kerrie Tonking followed with a bucket in the paint assisted by O'Connor, but the Wolverines finished the half on an 8-0 run — part of a 14-5 run in the quarter — to take a 21-20 lead into the break.
“I was surprised to be up by one,” Stephens conceded.
The trend continued after the half, as Truckee went on to outscore Incline 16-3 in the third quarter to take a commanding 37-23 lead.
Senior center Aleigh Krug, at 6 foot 3, and senior guard Sassy Graham made the difference, scoring all but two of Truckee's points in the quarter. Graham started the quarter by draining two open shots from the perimeter, and Krug used her size and shooting touch to post 10 of her game-high 25 points.
“You've got to give her (Krug) credit. She was hitting her shots in the second half,” Nash said. “And then we left that other guard (Graham) open a couple times, and that made it 10 points real quickly.”
The Highlanders, who enjoyed some success with their full-court press in the first half, struggled to slow the Truckee offense with it in the final two quarters.
“A lot of what we got early was from the press. But then we went away from it and weren't decisive in putting it on,” Nash said.
O'Connor scored a team-high 14 points as the Wolverines limited her to just one three-pointer after her hot first quarter. Tonking scored six points for the Highlanders and Kortney Solis had five. For Truckee, Krysta Murphy posted 10 points and Sydnie English had six off the bench.
Truckee improved to 4-0 in Mount Rose League play and 10-5 overall with its sixth straight win, while Incline fell to 2-1 in league and 6-13 overall. The teams meet again Feb. 10 in Incline.
“We get another shot at them, and we'll be ready,” Nash said.
UP NEXT
Incline plays at Sparks on Thursday and hosts North Tahoe on Friday at 6 p.m.
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