The opportunity to seize one of the spots in the Division III North Regional championship got a little tougher for the Battle Mountain High School girls basketball team.
The Lady Longhorns held a eight-point lead after three quarters of play at West West Wendover on Monday, only to see the Wolverines rally for a 53-51 victory. The contest was originally set for last Friday but was postponed due to poor weather.
“We played very poorly in the last two minutes,” said BMHS coach Paul Tremayne. “Missed free throws and missed layups turnover are a recipe for disaster. The girls really played pretty well for three and a half quarters. We just have to learn to play 32 minutes. We gave up 24 points in the fourth quarter and we need to clean some things up on defense.”
West Wendover grabbed the early momentum, jumping out to a 17-10 lead after eight minutes of play. However, Battle Mountain dominated the middle two quarters holding the Wolverines to just 12 points. The Lady Longhorns built a 37-29 lead after the third quarter but could not hold the advantage.
Yulisa Vazquez netted 13 points for the Lady Longhorns. Riane Schroeder added 10 points and nine rebounds and Sruti Bhakta had 10 points and eight assists.
Incline (8-2) and West Wendover (7-3) have the inside track on the top two spots for the upcoming regional championship in West Wendover.
Three teams, including Battle Mountain are fighting for the last two open spaces. Pershing County and Yerington are tied for third at 5-3, but the Lions have the tiebreaker after sweeping the Lady Mustangs this season. Battle Mountain (5-4) is fifth.
Battle Mountain will get a chance to create further chaos on Friday with a 6 p.m. contest in Yerington.
The Lady Longhorns close out the regular season at home against Pershing County on Saturday, Feb. 13.
“The playoff picture ids going to get real interesting,” Tremayne said.
