Truckee too much for Lakers

When the Truckee High basketball team makes the trip to Dollar Hill, the capacity at North Tahoe’s gym is tested.

Sandwiched between banks of rabid fans jeering each other, a battle ensued on the Laker hardwood.

While the boys from North Tahoe put up a good fight, the Laker squad ” now a combination of varsity and JV players ” was just no match for the visiting Wolverines, who took the game by a final of 66-33.

“The first two minutes we set the tone,” Truckee coach Keith Crawford said.

While Truckee came out and dominated North Tahoe from the start of the game, shutting down offensive opportunities, sinking long shots and driving to the basket, North Tahoe did not completely concede the quarter.

Perhaps it was the raucous North Tahoe crowd, maybe it was the full-gym-length student-made spirit poster or the organized cheers, but North Tahoe’s small band of hard-hearted ballers gave what they could in the final four minutes of the opening quarter and brought the score within eight points leading into the second quarter.

Those eight points were as close as the Laker boys would get, as Truckee began to run away with the game in the second quarter, heading into the locker room at halftime up 34-19.

After a halftime homecoming celebration that saw North Tahoe’s Omar Gonzales and Kim Moore crowned Winter Homecoming King and Queen, the battle raged on.

While North Tahoe’s Spencer Marple had a game-high 14 points, it was the team numbers that made the difference.

Truckee’s Cory Hoehn and Pat Galvin both had 12 points, Kyle Rinella had 10 and Ryan Roberts and Drew Stewart both had eight.

“It was a team effort,” Crawford said.

Marple’s effort was supported by a handful of two-point performances on the North Tahoe side, though Taylor Good finished with five points and Brent Marple four.

The third quarter saw Truckee leave the Lakers in the dust, as the Wolverines put 20 points up in eight minutes to the Lakers four.

In the fourth quarter North Tahoe evened things out slightly, with 10 points to Truckee’s 12.

In the end, the rivalry went to Truckee, the team with a full squad of varsity players.

Crawford said he was proud of his boys for getting the job done, not succumbing to the pressure of the fans to walk away with the win.