The Winnemucca Junior High seventh-grade boys basketball team has started its season on a high note with five wins in five games.
The Warriors began their season on Friday, Nov. 7, in Carson City and came away with two victories. Winnemucca beat Eagle Valley 34-22 and Carson Middle School 45-13.
"It was very good start to the season," said WJHS coach Todd Milton. "I think the kids were a little nervous with this being their first big road trip, competing against two larger schools, the first time representing their school, and the city of Winnemucca."
The coach noted that the nerves went away very quickly and the players responded well.
"I feel for our first time out the guys ran our offense very well, and worked their tails off on defense," Milton said. "I really want the boys to start thinking about high school basketball now. I want the guys to learn the game of basketball and learn to play as a team.
Milton added that Lowry varsity boys head coach Chad Peters came in and helped during a few of the practices early on so that the boys could start learning the high school system now.
"We are running the same offense and the same defense as our varsity boys run, and this group of boys really picks things up quick," Milton said. "The guys have done very well with everything that we have thrown at them. We have 12 great kids that work very well together, and I am very excited to see how far we can go this season."
Winnemucca opened Tri-County play last Saturday in Lovelock and came way with three easy wins. The Warriors beat host Pershing County 50-3, Fallon 50-31 and Battle Mountain 59-25.
"All 12 of our guys contributed this weekend," said the coach. "I really liked how Max (Mavity), Taylor (Corak), Bodi (Miller) and Tyler Neu all came off the bench in all of the games and how they were able to run our offense."
The coach noted that he was able to play all of those kids as well as starting guards Derek Espinoza and Michael Casalez at either guard position and not lose a step.
"The goal for our guards is to control the court on offense and become leaders when they are playing the point guard position," Milton said. "There is still a lot of room for improvement as far as that goes, but I am very happy with what I am seeing from our guards at this point. Our post players have been working hard on positioning and blocking out on both ends of the floor when a shot goes up."
The coach continued saying, like with the guards, the talent pool for the big guys is very deep. He added that Joshua Leveille, Jordan Parker, Diego Villa, Preston Snow, Tazmin Milton and Kobe Stoker all did a great job blocking out on both ends of the floor.
"We have had the rebound advantage in every game that we have played so far and that is because all of those guys are pushing each other so hard in practice to get better," Milton said. "This is a special group of kids on and off of the court, and I am very fortunate to be able to coach such great young men."
Winnemucca traveled to Fernley on Tuesday and results were not available at press time. The Warriors host the Tri-County League on Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m.[[In-content Ad]]
