LOVELOCK - When you play a team so many times in one season and win each of those meetings, there is a fear of losing the next matchup.
During the course of the year, the Winnemucca Junior High School eighth-grade boys basketball team beat Battle Mountain five times. The two schools, separated by 50 miles, were back on the floor this past Friday afternoon in the Tri-County championship in Lovelock.
The Warriors (12-6) raced out to a 14-6 advantage in the first half, only to see the Shorthorns tie the game at 25-25 late in the fourth quarter. However, Winnemucca went on a 7-2 run in the final three minutes to secure the 33-27 victory.
"It's tough when you play a single team so many times in a season," said WJHS head coach K.C. Kracaw. "Battle Mountain is a very physical team. We hit a stretch in the game where we were not making baskets and we let Battle Mountain back in it."
Winnemucca tallied the first six points of the game off of buckets by Jed Teichert, Jacob Hernandez and Joe Taylor and did not allow a point on defense until there was 2 minutes, 57 seconds left in the opening quarter.
The Shorthorns came back to cut the deficit to 9-4, but the Warriors' Darrin Nelson hit a 3-point field goal near the end of the period.
Both schools found it tough going in the second quarter - each scoring four points apiece. Bryan Ramos and Teichert scored the only points for Winnemucca, who led 16-8 at halftime.
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