The Winnemucca Junior High School seventh-grade girls basketball team made the trip north to McDermitt last Saturday and won two of its three games.
The Warriors opened with a 29-7 win over Pershing County, where Sierra Maestrejuan scored a game-high 10 points. Sarah Fernandez added seven points.
"The girls played well," said WJHS coach Grant Beatty. "We had good team defense, took care of the ball and hit some shots."
Kelcey Cooper added four points, plus she added some good assists from her point guard spot, according to Beatty. Kelcey Smith pushed the ball up the floor offensively and scored two points. Arianna Galindo added two points and played aggressive defense according to the coach.
"Julie (Rivera), who has improved very much on offense in the last two weeks, scored her first points of the season," Beatty said.
Winnemucca defeated Battle Mountain as nine different players scored.
Bailey Raabe led the scoring with eight points, as she both drove the lane and him jump shots. The coach added that Alyssa Gomez dominated down low, getting big rebounds and scoring six points. Hailey Jones used her speed to score four points on fast break baskets and Makayla Leveille and Bella Bourquin each added four points. Savannah Dalley, Rivera, Carly Cappellen and Maestrejaun added two points apiece.
Winnemucca fell behind 15-8 to McDermitt at halftime, but came back with an 5-0 run in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 15-13, but McDermitt hit a shot late to win 22-21.
McDermitt hit a jumper with about 20 seconds left to go up by one and held the lead from there. Winnemucca had a couple looks at the end but couldn't get a shot to fall.
"Some of our girls really grew up and learned how to compete in the second half of the game," Beatty said. I am very proud of the girls and how far they've come from the beginning of the season up to this point. Definitely a moral victory if there ever was one."
Beatty added that Fernandez is one of those girls that stepped up in the second half and was aggressive.
"It was fun to see her come out of her shell," Beatty said.
The coach noted that Dalley was another player who stepped up big time in the McDermitt game. She attacked the baseline and hit some big shots and led the Warriors with six points. Beatty also praised the play of Cooper and Alyssa Gomez.
Winnemucca travels to Battle Mountain Saturday for the Tri-County Championships starting at 9 a.m.[[In-content Ad]]
