Tigers, Lady Tigers throttle archrival Lamar at Wynn Gym

Both the Nevada Tiger and Lady Tiger varsity basketball teams easily dispatched bitter rival Lamar Tuesday night at Wynn Gym.

The Lady Tigers kicked off the festivities with a 59-21 blowout victory, while the Tigers boys followed with a 60-48 triumph.

Both Nevada teams move to 10-1 overall.

In the girls' contest Nevada lit up Lamar from long-range.

Despite the first quarter 3-point barrage, Lamar refused to abandoned its zone defense, as Payge Dahmer torched the visitors with three quick triples, helping Nevada out to a 22-8 lead at the conclusion of the opening frame.

The Lady Tigers then outscored Lamar 12-3 in the second quarter, for a commanding 34-11 halftime advantage.

Nevada continued to pull away in the third, outscoring Lamar 19-5 en route to the 38-point victory.

Lady Tiger point guard Calli Beshore paced Nevada with a game-high 16 points, dropping in dozen in the third quarter, including a trio of 3-point makes.

Nevada junior guard Tylin Heathman and Dahmer added 12 points apiece — while senior forward Lindley Ferry tallied seven in the winning effort.

"It was a great win," said Lady Tiger head coach, Brent Bartlett, as his squad improves to a sparking 3-0 in the Big 8 West division. "I thought we competed and played extremely hard. It's good to see us starting to shoot the ball better."

In the boys' contest Lamar kept it close early. Dalton Gayman's trey midway through the first quarter sparked a 10-0 blitz, as Nevada grabbed a 17-7 lead. Nevada's advantage, however, was trimmed to 28-21 at the half.

Providing an offensive spark, senior guard Noah Cheaney dropped in 10 first half points, ultimately finishing with a varsity career-high 16.

Nevada head coach Shaun Gray said he was pleased with the halftime adjustments made by his club.

"We were able to negate the things Lamar was doing well in the first half," he said during his postgame radio interview.

In the second half Lamar trailed by as many as 21, before eventually succumbing to Nevada — the No. 5 ranked team in the latest Class 4 coaches poll.

Cheaney and Gayman shared game-high scoring honors with 16 points apiece, while Nevada junior guard Logan McNeley added 10.

"Noah had a big game in the point column," Gray said during the postgame interview, adding that he was also effective setting screens to get teammates open looks.

"Some of those adjustments with him in the third quarter were what helped get us going," Gray noted. "It's always nice when a guy who's an unsung hero has a game where people take notice."

Gray said that despite some turnover issues, he was happy with his team's overall performance, as Nevada moves to 1-0 in Big 8 West division-play.

"I thought we shared the ball extremely well," Gray told the Daily Mail. "We were very balanced offensively."

Gray continued: "I thought at times, late in the game especially, we got a little loose with the basketball — we were a little lackadaisical, which kind of allowed Lamar to hang around. We can definitely learn from it. When we have a chance to really extend a lead — to be smarter with the basketball. It was a good team win, just would have liked to have seen us not be quite so careless with the ball at times in the second half."

Up Next

The Lady Tigers return to the court Jan. 21 for a Big 8 West division road-clash with Seneca — while the Tiger boys square off on the road with East Newton on Friday.