MCDERMITT - While the Division I North schools Reed and Reno showcased the Friday night slate in their league, the Division IV East provided its best match-up of the year as well.
The McDermitt High School girls basketball team hosted Eureka, the defending Division IV state champion, and the two came in as the last undefeated squads in the league. Eureka used a strong second quarter to gain an eight-point advantage and hung on for the 54-47 win.
"The second quarter is what hurt us," said MHS coach Jaimi Wilkinson. "I prepared us for just a straight zone press and that was my bad. We made the adjustments in the second half and fixed it. That tells me that the kids are listening. I came in knowing that we could play with them and now my girls know they can beat Eureka."
Deandra Dave scored five of McDermitt's 11 points in the first quarter and Krissy Long provided the Lady Bulldogs a four-point lead at 11-7 with 28 seconds left in the period on an old-fashioned 3-point play.
After little full-court pressure in the first half, Eureka used two steals in the first couple of minutes of the second period to go on a 7-0 spurt and lead 14-11.
The Lady Bulldogs' Va Draunidalo tied the game at 16 with 2:14 left in the first half on a short jumper, only to see the Vandals respond with a 10-2 run to close out the first half. Long had the only points for McDermitt during the run and that came on a layup as the Lady Bulldogs broke the press.
Andrea Smart, who finished with a team-high 17 points, got McDermitt off to a quick start in the third period with a 3-point play to cut the deficit to five points. Dave and Lydia Northrup added baskets to bring the margin to four points on two occasions.
Eureka struck back with the next six points to push the advantage to double figures, when Smart ended the run on a 17-foot bank shot. The Vandals led by as many as 12 points late in the third quarter but Long put a shot back from under the bucket and Smart hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the score 42-34.
"We used halftime to the fullest and we got out of it what I needed," Wilkinson said. "My kids played tough but got in some foul trouble. We controlled the paint like I thought we would."
After connecting on the long-distance shot at the end of the third quarter, Smart struck for another 3-pointer to begin the fourth. McDermitt then took advantage of two missed free throws by Eureka and Smart knocked down another 3-pointer to bring the Lady Bulldogs within four points at 46-42 with 4:55 left to play.
Following a timeout, the Vandals scored four of the next five points to extend the margin to 50-43 with 4:01 to go. The Lady Bulldogs didn't go away as Long and Smart used back-to-back baskets to trim the lead to 50-47. However, moments later Smart picked up her fifth foul with 2:01 left.
The Vandals had a chance to put the game away but missed five of six free throws down the stretch to keep the Lady Bulldogs in the game. Trailing 51-47 with under a minute to play, Draunidalo drove to the basket for a layup, but the ball rolled off the rim. Eureka made a free throw with 21 seconds left and added a bucket as time expired for the seven-point win.
"We looked nervous in pregame, but we handled the pressure well," Wilkinson said. "I was pleased with how my bench played. They had to give us good minutes with the foul trouble we were in."
Long joined Smart in double figures with 16 points while Dave added seven. Draunidalo and Northup had four and three points, respectively.
McDermitt (8-4 overall, 3-1 Division IV East) will play its next three games on the road. The Lady Bulldogs play Wells on Friday at 6 p.m. and Jackpot on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. McDermitt travels to Owyhee on Feb. 4 for a 3 p.m. tip. The game was originally set for Jan. 18 but was postponed.
"We are going to be OK," Wilkinson said. "Going on the road for the next three games will test us."[[In-content Ad]]
