After picking up four wins in its first four Division IV East contests, the McDermitt High School boys basketball team suffered its first league loss of the season on Friday, Jan. 23, in Eureka.
"We were without a couple starters and that hurt," said MHS coach Jack Smith. "We had trouble hitting shots and Eureka was making them. They were hitting some long three's. You have to give credit to Eureka, they were the better team."
The Vandals broke open a four-point game at halftime, with an 18-8 run in the third quarter to win 71-52. The defeat dropped the Bulldogs in to a tie for the top spot in the Division IV East at 4-1. However, the Vandals own the tiebreaker because of the had-to-head victory. Wells and Owyhee are tied for third at 3-2. McDermitt still has games with all three teams, in the final three weeks of the regular season.
"We couldn't run the press the way we wanted," Smith said. "We got in to a half-court game and that is Eureka's style. They have some big boys and took advantage of that.
Eureka jumped out to a 15-13 lead in the first quarter and increased the advantage by another two points in the second quarter to lead 32-28 at halftime.
The 10-point run out of the break in the third quarter propelled the Vandals to a 14-point advantage and Eureka continued to build its advantage in the final eight minutes with a 21-16 spurt.
"It got away from us late," Smith said. "It was a close game until the final minutes."
Sonny Crutcher and TJ Smith led McDermitt with 14 points apiece. Saul Lopez joined them in double figures with 10, Alex Rincon had six and Kyon Egan two.
McDermitt hosts Wells tonight at 7:30 p.m. in a crucial game toward playoff seeding. The Bulldogs beat the Leopards 61-53 in Wells at the start of the league season in the first week of January. McDermitt hosts Jackpot on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
"I think Eureka is a team we can beat when they come here," Smith said. "We have be ready to go on Friday against Wells. Wells is a very legitimate team."
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