Battle Mountain rallies in second half to up end West Wendover

Dorian scores 22 for Longhorns

It appears on paper that every game this year in the Division III North could be a toss up on the boys side with a balanced league.

That was no different Saturday afternoon, as the Battle Mountain High School boys basketball team was back on its home floor after a two-week break.

The Longhorns needed a strong second-half rally to knock off West Wendover 5-47 to improve to 2-1 in league play and 11-3 overall.

“This was a big win for us,” said BMHS coach Roger Wallock. “Our league looks really tough again this year but until you play the teams, you don’t know what to expect. West Wendover is a fast team and they have played really well this year.”

It was a tale of two quarters in the first half, as Battle Mountain jumped out to an 11-5 lead in the first quarter, behind a strong defensive effort. However, the tide turned in the second quarter, as the Wolverines found their offensive touch and used a 20-11 run to lead 25-22 at halftime.

“We turned the ball over 10 times in the first half and didn’t get as many shots at the basket as we should have,” Wallock said.

Battle Mountain was able to trim the deficit to two points at the start of the fourth quarter, and took control in the final eight minutes with a 20-11 run to secure the victory.

Blake Dorian paced Battle Mountain with 22 points and five steals. Sadonte Johnson added eight points and six rebounds, and Chris Figueroa had seven points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Miles Piramide scored six points, Alan Rangel five, Regan Knight three and Sergio Diaz and Jaren Price had two points each. In addition, Price grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

“We cleaned up our passing in the second half and pulled out a very important victory,” Wallock said. “Now, we have league favorite Yerington coming to town Friday. We are going to work hard this week in practice to prepare to play a complete game against them.”

Yerington reached the Division III state semifinals last year before losing to The Meadows 52-50.

The Lions are undefeated in league play this year and tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday night in Battle Mountain.