The calendar may still say December, but the McDermitt High School boys basketball team picked up an important win on the road Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs traveled to Pyramid Lake and beat the Lakers 51-45 in overtime. The victory pushed McDermitt's record to 2-5 on the season.
"Pyramid Lake is a good team and played other teams tough this year," said MHS coach Jack Smith. "We just started getting everyone back and starting to play better. I wanted to start getting the press going and we were able to do that. We have been mostly zone to start the season, but we played good-man-to-man defense on the night."
McDermitt had a chance to win the game in regulation, but missed some free throws and shots at the end to send the game in to overtime.
"We did some good things at times and there were other times where we hurt ourselves," Smith said. "We need to take better care of the ball and have to be able to put a team away when we have the chance."
Sonny Crutcher led the way for McDermitt with 26 points.
McDermitt traveled to Virginia City last week for the Comstock Classic and came away with one win three games. The Bulldogs opened with the host school on Thursday, Dec. 11, and lost 49-29.
"This was our first game back with everyone," Smith said. "It took us a while to get our feet under us. Virginia City had a bunch games under their belt and this was basically our first. They had some good players and hit some long shots against our zone defense."
The game was tied at 11 after the first quarter, when Virginia City used a 29-12 run in the middle quarters to pull away. TJ Smith and Crutcher led the Bulldogs with eight and seven points, respectively.
McDermitt was back on the floor on Friday, Dec. 12, against Round Mountain and lost 53-51. Once again, the Bulldogs sat in a zone defense and Round Mountain was able to hit some long jump shots.
The Knights led 37-24 at halftime, but it all turned around in the third quarter, as the Bulldogs
went on an 18-3 run to lead 42-40. The two schools battled back-and-forth in the fourth quarter. McDermitt had an opportunity to win the game, but a last-second 3-point shot bounced off the rim.
"At halftime I decided it was time to get out of the zone and start pressuring the ball," Smith said. "We were more aggressive and we got back in the game. I was proud of how we came back in the second half. We had our chances at the end."
Smith and Crutcher had 15 and 11 points, respectively for the Bulldogs.
The schedule makers in the tournament was not kind to McDermitt, who had to grab its gear quickly and get back on the floor minutes later against Pahranagat Valley. The Panthers, who played much earlier in the day took advantage and won 42-21.
"It was a tough spot for us," added the coach. "We were gassed going into the game. They had some big guys and you can see why they are so good in football."
Lopez led McDermitt with seven points and Smith added six.
The Bulldogs closed out the tournament on Saturday against Coleville, Calif., and won 63-38. McDermitt led 44-13 and were never challenged by the Wolves.
"We came out and pressed from the start and played well," Smith said. "We took the heart out of them pretty quick. That is how I want the guys to play. It was a good confidence booster to get our first win."
Saul Lopez and Smith each had 14 points in the victory.
McDermitt travels to Crane, Ore., this weekend for the Crane Christmas Tournament.[[In-content Ad]]
