BATTLE MOUNTAIN - It will be a game that the Battle Mountain High School varsity girls basketball team will look back on as one that got away from them.
The Lady Longhorns (8-4) led Yerington 38-34 with four minutes to play before going scoreless the rest of fourth quarter, as the Lions came back to tie the game 38-38 and force overtime. Battle Mountain went 1-of-8 from the free throw line in overtime and 7-of-29 for the game, eventually losing 42-41 to the Lions.
"That one hurt us," said BMHS head coach Paul Tremayne. "But you are not going to win many games when you miss the number of free throws that we did.
"I was thinking if we could have beaten Yerington we could have got enough points at the end of the year to get a No. 3 seed and avoid Lovelock until the regional final. Now you almost want to finish sixth. You don't want to be that No. 4 or No. 5 seed for the tournament."
Kelsey Kroll, who led Battle Mountain with 11 points, gave the Lady Longhorns a 34-27 lead at the start of the fourth quarter. Another basket by the sophomore kept the spread at six points at 36-30 before Yerington scored four straight to close the gap to 36-34 with 4:41 left in regulation.
Battle Mountain picked up a bucket by Sam Samuelson to lead by four points at 38-34, but the Lady Longhorns then missed four consecutive free throws in a one-minute stretch. The basket by Samuelson was the last points in regulation for Battle Mountain.
Yerington made 1-of-2 free throws with 49.3 seconds left to tie the game at 38-38 and with 13.3 seconds to play, Battle Mountain called timeout to set up a play for a final shot that was unsuccessful.
The game was a physical one, as 44 fouls were called - 22 on each team - and 63 free throws were shot. Yerington had three players foul out and the Longhorns' Pooja Bhakta fouled out as well.
After missing two free throws at the start of overtime, the Lions drew first blood with one shot from the charity stripe for a 39-38 lead with 3:12 to play. Following two misses by Battle Mountain at the line, Yerington came back to make 1-of-2 shots to lead 40-38 with 2:26 to go. A short jump shot by Kroll tied the game at 40, ending a six-minute scoreless streak for the Lady Longhorns.
Battle Mountain had its chances to take the lead twice in a 21-second span but missed four free throws. Yerington made two free throws on its next possession to lead 42-40 with 47.3 to play. The Lady Longhorns had an opportunity to tie the game but made 1-of-2 shots from the free throw line to trail 42-41 with 18.8 seconds to play.
Battle Mountain forced a jump ball off the missed free throw with 15.5 seconds left, but a 3-point shot by Brooklyn Quintana at the buzzer went off the rim.
The two schools traded the lead three times in the first eight minutes of play, with Yerington leading by a point at 11-10 at the end of the quarter. Daisy Hernandez's shot at the halftime buzzer gave Battle Mountain a 16-15 advantage it held until the 4:35 mark of the third quarter when the Lions retook the lead at 22-21.
Yerington led 26-23 late in the third quarter, only to see Battle Mountain go on a 9-1 spurt to lead 32-27 entering the fourth quarter.
Amber Scovil added six points, while Abbie Mikelson, Caitlyn Warwood, Hernandez, Samuelson and Bhakta scored four each. Julie Holland and Hannah Hale had two points apiece.
Battle Mountain plays host to Pershing County on Friday at 6 p.m. and travels to Silver Stage on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip. The Lady Longhorns begin Ruby Mountain League play at Elko next Tuesday at 6 p.m.
[[In-content Ad]]
