LOVELOCK - The last time the Battle Mountain High School junior varsity boys basketball team was on the floor was on Dec. 10 during its home invitational.
After 19 days off, the Longhorns (3-4) were back in action last Thursday against rival Pershing County in Lovelock. Battle Mountain could not overcome a slow start and was defeated 52-39.
"It just comes down to making shots and handling the pressure," said BMHS head coach Worth Nelson. "We were off for three weeks and didn't handle Lovelock's pressure at the start. We have had trouble breaking the press all season. Once the game went on we got better."
Leading 7-4 early in the first quarter, Pershing County took advantage of a shooting foul by Battle Mountain, which was followed by a technical foul. The Mustangs made 3-of-4 free throws and after getting the ball back out of bounds hit a jump shot to increase the lead to 12-4. The run continued with nine straight points, started with a 3-point field goal and concluding with six points off of turnovers. Jacob Johnson and David DeAndreis ended the 16-0 run with back-to-back baskets to end the first quarter with Pershing County leading 21-8.
Battle Mountain closed the deficit to 11 points at 23-12 after baskets by Ivan Chavira and DeAndreis. The Longhorns were trailing by the same 11 points at 25-14 after a bucket by Richard Glenn, but Pershing County went on an 11-2 run to close out the second quarter and led 36-16 at halftime.
The Mustangs added to their advantage with a 14-6 run to start the third quarter and eventually held their biggest lead of the day at 50-22. However, Pershing County scored just two points in the final 10 minutes of the game. Battle Mountain ended the game on a 17-2 run, which started at the end of the third quarter on a 3-point shot by DeAndreis at the buzzer. After two more baskets by DeAndreis, the Longhorns closed within 50-34 with four minutes to play, when the Mustangs called timeout.
After the break, Pershing County went into a stall game, eventually forcing Battle Mountain to foul. The Longhorns had committed just one foul in the second half and had to foul six times to put Pershing County into the bonus. The stall game just about backfired on Pershing County, as it was 2-of-16 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.
"I was just not going to let them run the clock out for the final four minutes," Nelson said. "They were missing free throws but we couldn't get a rebound for anything or the ball was bouncing off of us and going out of bounds. It probably could have been closer if we didn't give them so many chances at the end. I didn't have any visions of coming back to win the game but it was better than letting them run the clock out."
Battle Mountain eventually closed the gap to 13 points at 52-39 on a 3-point shot by Quintana but could get no closer.
DeAndreis led Battle Mountain with 12 points; Glenn added eight, Jesse Jones six, Quintana five, Johnson four and Chavira two.
Battle Mountain returns home for two games this weekend, starting Friday against Yerington at 4:30 p.m. The Longhorns then host Rite of Passage Saturday at 1 p.m.
"There is not going to be an easy game the rest of the year for us," Nelson said. "All I want to see is us getting better and we are."
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