WINNEMUCCA - With the conclusion of the season this Saturday, the Winnemucca Junior High seventh-grade girls basketball team is three wins away from a perfect year.
The Warriors (9-0 Tri-County, 15-0) overall extended their winning streak to 15 games, with six wins in a five day span.
Winnemucca traveled to Fallon on Tuesday and won 33-12, picking up its third win of the season over the Greenwave.
The Warriors hosted the Tri-County this past Saturday and picked up three more victories. Winnemucca beat Pershing County 37-29, Battle Mountain 35-6 and McDermitt 31-29.
Prior to Tri-County play, Winnemucca was at home to play Carson and Pershing County on Friday, Sept. 28. The Warriors beat the Solons 47-4 and the Colts 28-24.
In the win over Fallon, Winnemucca's Alyssa Kuskie outscored the Greenwave by herself, with a game-high 13 points. The Warriors led 14-6 at halftime, and broke the game open with a 13-2 run in the third quarter, which included nine points by Kuskie.
In all, eight players scored for Winnemucca, with Samantha Diaz and Trenna Millikan scoring four each. Kepa Bengochea and Bailey Sapien had three points apiece, and Tailor West, Alily Kliewer and Shelby Garrison scored two each.
In the Tri-County opener against Pershing County, the Colts led for much of the first half, when Sapien made two free throws and Kuskie hit a running shot at the halftime buzzer to give the Warriors an 11-10 advantage.
Winnemucca scored the first three points of the second half and didn't give the lead up. Pershing County closed within a point at 19-18, but Hinkle, Kuskie and Sapien all made shots to increase the lead to 25-20. The advantage never dropped below four points the rest of the way.
Kuskie and Millikan each scored 12 points to pace the Warriors. Sapien added seven points, Bengochea four and Hinkle two.
Winnemucca cruised to an easy victory over Battle Mountain, as two players outscored the Shorthorns by themselves. West and Brittany Jacaway scored eight and seven points, respectively. Sapien scored six, Megan Miller and Diaz four each and Bengochea, Kuskie and Garrison had two each.
Winnemucca found itself in another battle with McDermitt to close out the day. A week after beating the Cougars in overtime in Battle Mountain, the Warriors overcame a two-point deficit in the fourth quarter to earn the win.
Behind six points from Kuskie, Winnemucca kept the score tied at 8-8 after a quarter of play. Kuskie and Hinkle combined for 11 points in the second period, giving the Warriors a 19-15 lead at halftime.
McDermitt came back to grab the advantage in the third quarter, when Winnemucca made its comeback in the final six minutes of action.
Kuskie led all scorers with 18 points, Millikan and Sapien added four each, Hinkle three and West two.
"Trenna did a good job late in the game of containing their big girl," said WJHS seventh-grade coach Larry Renteria. "She was getting frustrated at the beginning and I took her out. After having a talk with her, she got back out on the floor and got after it and did a good job."
Winnemucca made easy work of Carson to begin play last weekend. The Warriors held the Solons scoreless in the first half and led 24-0 at halftime. The domination continued into the final 12 minutes of play with Winnemucca outscoring Carson 23-4.
Ten players scored for the Warriors, with Jacaway leading the way with nine points, Kuskie scored eight, Diaz and Millikan six each, Bengochea, West and Garrison four apiece and Kliewer, Sapien and Tauni Rolando two each.
In the matchup with Pershing County, Winnemucca overcame a one-point deficit in the first quarter to lead 14-8 at halftime and never trailed again.
Kuskie and Sapien led Winnemucca with nine and eight points, respectively. Bengochea scored five, Millikan four and Hinkle two.
Winnemucca travels to Carson today to face Carson and Eagle Valley at 3 p.m.
The season concludes on Saturday in Lovelock with the Tri-County championships at 9 a.m. The Warriors play Battle Mountain and Pershing County meets McDermitt in the other semifinal. The two winners of those games will play for the league title.
"We are playing a lot of games in the final week of the season," Renteria said. "We should be OK with our games in Carson but we have to be ready to play on Saturday. I am expecting tough games on Saturday."
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