WINNEMUCCA - In the first week of Tri-County play on Friday, Nov. 16, the McDermitt Junior High seventh-grade boys basketball team nearly knocked off Winnemucca, losing by just one point.
When the league got back together on Friday, Nov. 30, in Battle Mountain the Cougars were shorthanded with just a handful of players and struggled on the hardwood.
McDermitt was nearly back to full strength this past Saturday and picked up two wins, including a 36-32 victory over the home standing Warriors. The Cougars split their other two games losing 48-16 to Battle Mountain, who is undefeated in Tri-County action. McDermitt, who is comprised of eighth, seventh and sixth graders, finished the day with a 37-34 win over Pershing County.
"We were shorthanded in Battle Mountain and struggled playing with a lot of the younger kids," said MHS coach Richard Egan. "The boys were thrilled with the win over Winnemucca. It was nice to see them get a couple of wins."
McDermitt raced to a 10-2 advantage in the first quarter on the strength of four points each by Cauy Crutcher and Troy McKee. Winnemucca battled back in the second quarter behind four points from Brayden Jensen to cut the margin to a point. Brent Wilson and Crutcher each had baskets for the Cougars to keep the McDermitt lead at 14-13 at halftime.
Edgar Reyes picked up the scoring slack for McDermitt in the third quarter with six points, keeping the advantage at two points, 22-20.
Winnemucca scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter and had a chance to increase the lead to 29-22, but missed a layup. That missed shot changed all the momentum as McDermitt roared back to take the lead at 30-27 after eight consecutive points by Crutcher. Crutcher had a game-high 18 points.
The Cougars were solid from the free throw line in the final minute as Crutcher and McKee were 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
Reyes and McKee picked up eight points each and Wilson added two points.
With a game in between to rest, McDermitt took to the floor to face Battle Mountain, but was not able to knock off the Shorthorns. Crutcher led the Cougars with eight points, while Cleve Tom added four. Reyes and McKee each had two points.
Battle Mountain held a double-digit lead in the first half and never relinquished the lead after that.
McDermitt was returned to the floor immediately after the defeat to Battle Mountain to play Pershing County and was able to shake off the loss to the Shorthorns.
The Cougars jumped to an early double-figure lead in the second quarter and were able to hold off a late rally by the Colts, for the three-point win.
Seven players scored for McDermitt, with Reyes leading the way with 14. McKee collected eight points, Crutcher seven and Dominique Finley, Wilson, Royd Northrup and Tom two each.
McDermitt closes out its season Friday in Lovelock with the Tri-County championships at Pershing County High School. Action gets under way at 9 a.m.
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