MCDERMITT - Just four days after letting a win escape them at Owyhee, the McDermitt High School boys basketball team had another opportunity Saturday to knock off the rival Braves with a playoff berth on the line.
The Bulldogs saw a 10-point lead disappear in the first half but held on throughout the second half for a 71-67 victory in front of a packed gym in McDermitt on senior night.
"It was just an awesome win for us," said MHS coach Austin Mayo. "We felt we should have won in Owyhee a few days earlier. It was just back-and-forth and neither team could pull away. Our guys have come a long way from the start of the year."
McDermitt (10-7 overall, 6-3 Division IV East) has now beaten the top two teams in the league and clinched a spot in the regional tournament to be held in Reno next week. The Bulldogs can finish second with a win at Eureka and an Owyhee loss to Wells.
"The guys have surprised a lot of people," Mayo said. "Many didn't think they would make the playoffs, let alone have a chance to finish second in the league."
The game was tied three times in the first quarter, the last at 9-9, when McDermitt went on a 5-0 run, kick-started by buckets by T.J. Smith and Saul Lopez.
Tanner Coble began a 16-8 run in the second quarter with a layup on the opening possession of the period. The margin grew to eight points after Ellison Tom put back a shot and Brendan Wilson made a pair of free throws to give the Bulldogs a 30-20 lead.
However, Wilson found himself in foul trouble as the senior picked up four fouls in the first half.
Momentum shifted late in the first half, as Wilson was called for a charging foul, negating a basket. Owyhee countered with four consecutive 3-point field goals to tie the game at 32. The contest went into the half even at 34.
"That was a big momentum shift," Mayo said. "When we played earlier in the week, Owyhee didn't make 3-pointers. Skylon (McKinney) is a hell of a player and we didn't want him to beat us. I was getting worried when he started hitting those shots. We knew Owyhee is a team of runs. We didn't want that to change the way we approached the game and it didn't."
The schools traded buckets for the first few possessions of the third quarter, when Tyler Coble began a 6-1 run. Alex Rincon and Tanner Coble followed with layups to put the Bulldogs in front 44-39. McDermitt kept the advantage for the remainder of the third quarter, but saw the deficit cut to one after Owyhee banked in a 3-pointer as time expired.
Tyler Coble started out the fourth quarter with an old-fashioned 3-point play, but seconds later Wilson picked up his fifth foul. The Braves answered with a 6-0 run to go in front 55-53, but the evaporated when Leo Lorenzo knocked down a 3-pointer to give McDermitt the lead at 58-57. Lorenzo, in his final home game, finished with nine points.
"I was really impressed with the way Leo played," Mayo said. "With Brendan in foul trouble, he came in and gave us some great minutes."
McDermitt was assessed a technical foul after the made 3-pointer and Owyhee made both foul shots to go in front 59-58 with 5:46 to play.
The lead changed hands once again, as Tyler Coble connected on a long distance shot on McDermitt's next possession. Owyhee led for the last time at 65-63 after a 3-point play, when Tyler Coble hit his second 3-pointer of the quarter to make the score 66-65.
Lorenzo pushed the gap to three points with 1:32 left to play with a steal and layup. Owyhee trimmed the lead down to one point, 15 seconds later, but couldn't grab the lead back.
McDermitt sealed the win after Tyler Coble grabbed a loose ball after a missed free throw by the Bulldogs and put back the shot for a three-point lead with 43 seconds to play.
McDermitt had three players in double figures with Tyler Coble and Tanner Coble scoring 28 and 15 points, respectively. Lorenzo added 10, Wilson eight, Lopez and Tom four each and Rincon and Smith two apiece.
"For us to get that win says a lot," Mayo said. "It was good to get a win over Owyhee. It's a great confidence booster for us."
McDermitt hosted Carlin on Friday and ran away with a 76-29 victory. The Bulldogs began the game on a 23-8 run and increased the margin to 41-15 at halftime.
Tyler Coble led all scorers with 20 points and Tanner Coble and Lopez added 18 and 15, respectively. Wilson added 11 points, Lorenzo nine, Richard Thunderhorse three and Brendan Abel two.
McDermitt closes out the regular season with a 7:30 tip at Eureka on Friday.[[In-content Ad]]
