BATTLE MOUNTAIN - The Battle Mountain High School junior varsity girls basketball team played three solid quarters at home against Yerington on Friday night, but it was one after the break that changed the outcome.
The Lady Longhorns trailed by four points at halftime but were outscored by 10 in the third quarter en route to a 48-32 loss.
"We played a lot better than we did in Lovelock," said BMHS head coach Jayson Cutler. "I feel we need to be a little more aggressive and pick the pace up and we will be OK. Teams seem to be outrunning us and getting easy points on layups, which should not be happening."
Trailing 6-2 early, Kendall Clark connected on consecutive baskets to tie the game at 6-6 with 3:13 left in the opening period. The Lions countered with seven straight points that went into the start of the second quarter, and they did not relinquish the lead the rest of the way.
Amanda Wallock hit two of her four 3-point field goals in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 15-14, and the Lady Longhorns went into halftime trailing 22-18.
The Lions capped off a 15-0 run with the first 12 points of the third quarter to build a 34-18 advantage. McKenzie Huddleston then ended the more than seven-minute scoreless streak for Battle Mountain on a basket with 51 seconds left in the third quarter.
Huddleston added another basket to start the fourth period and Wallock followed with her third long-distance shot to cut the lead to 34-25, but the Lions were able to hold the double-digit lead for the rest of the game. Wallock made her fourth and final 3-point shot with 2:40 left to play, but Battle Mountain went scoreless the rest of the way.
Wallock led Battle Mountain with 12 points, while Gabby Penola added six. Jade Harkness, Huddleston and Clark scored four each and Kaleah Torgerson two.
"For the most part I was pretty happy with the way we played," Cutler said. "We had some quality shots and made them and it came down to defense at the end and we just didn't play as good as we can. Right now we are down a couple of players that could help us."
Battle Mountain plays host to Pershing County on Friday at 3 p.m. and travels to Silver Stage on Saturday for a noon tip. The Lady Longhorns begin Ruby Mountain League play at Elko next Tuesday at 3 p.m.
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