WINNEMUCCA - The Winnemucca Junior High School seventh-grade boys basketball team began Tri-County League play with two wins in three games on Friday, Nov. 16, in McDermitt.
The Warriors (2-1 Tri-County, 4-9 overall) defeated McDermitt 33-32 and Pershing County 26-9, before losing their finale 28-24 to Battle Mountain.
Winnemucca held an early advantage over McDermitt but had to withstand a furious fourth-quarter rally by the Cougars. McDermitt erased an eight-point deficit with a 9-2 run in the fourth quarter but came up a point short.
The Warriors picked up points from seven different players in the first half in gaining a 17-10 advantage at halftime Winnemucca increased the margin by a point in the third quarter as the teams combined for 27 points.
Ty Brown and Steven Bosch led the Warriors with six points each. Nathen Blanco, Nathan Kepler and Brayden Jensen had four points apiece, Peyton Capellen three and Cole Smith, Domonick Solis and Braden Thomas two each.
Winnemucca had little trouble with Pershing County, shutting the Colts out in the first and fourth quarters. Jensen and Solis combined for 10 points in the first six minutes of play, helping the Warriors to take a 12-0 lead.
Winnemucca led 20-2 at halftime and cruised from there as Jensen outscored Pershing County by himself with 10 points. Solis and Bosch each scored four points and Seth Duncan, Kepler and Thomas had two points apiece.
The first time Winnemucca and Battle Mountain played, the contest went into triple overtime with the Shorthorns winning by eight points. The second matchup went to Battle Mountain once again as the Shorthorns grabbed an early 10-4 lead in the first quarter, before withstanding a Winnemucca comeback in the final quarter.
Battle Mountain outscored Winnemucca 9-1 in the third quarter to build a 12-point lead. The Warriors put a scare in the Shorthorns with a 12-4 rally in the fourth quarter but came up four points on the losing end.
Bosch and Jensen led the Warriors with 11 and nine points, respectively. Blanco and Brown each had two points.
A slow start against Eagle Valley put Winnemucca behind the 8-ball, forcing it to play catch up the rest of the way. The Eagles led 6-0 after the first quarter of play and held that same margin of advantage at halftime.
Winnemucca held Eagle Valley to six points in the second half, only to see its comeback come up a point short.
"We just didn't come out ready to play," said WJHS seventh-grade coach Eric Peters. "We have to be ready to play from the start and play from behind."
Kepler had a team-high five points, Ren Mattson and Duncan each scored four and Solis and Bosch had two points apiece.
Winnemucca and Battle Mountain got back together for a second straight day, with the Shorthorns winning for a third time on the season.
The game was tied at 8-8 after six minutes of play, when the Shorthorns outscored the Warriors 17-9 in the second and third quarters to pull away.
Solis and Bosch each had eight points for Winnemucca, Kepler and Jensen had four points apiece and Capellen two.
With the Thanksgiving holiday, Winnemucca is off until Friday, Nov. 30, when the team travels to Battle Mountain for the second round of Tri-County action at 10 a.m.
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