Losses have been a rare commodity for the Battle Mountain High School junior varsity boys basketball team.
The Longhorns went undefeated a season ago, and had suffered just one loss in 11 games, before taking on West Wendover on Saturday in Battle Mountain.
The Wolverines came into the contest with a perfect record as well and left Battle Mountain unblemished with a 42-29 win. The Longhorns are now 10-2 on the season and 2-1 in the Division III North.
Battle Mountain held a slim four-point lead after eight minutes of play, but managed just 19 points in the final three quarters and did not score in double figures in each of the final three quarters.
West Wendover tied the game at 18 at halftime and used a 14-3 spurt in the fourth quarter to pull away for the victory.
Mason Fuller had a team-high 12 points, Reese Artz added seven and Gabe Naveran four.
“It was a tough loss during winter break,” said BMHS coach Tyler Samuelson. “We were only down two points going into the fourth quarter but we got tired and they didn’t, and they managed to break it open. We played sluggish all game, but ran out of gas in the fourth quarter and Wendover didn’t. Their zone was tough to try and beat, they extended really well, and we had trouble being patient and getting good looks.”
Battle Mountain traveled to Elko on Tuesday to play Independence and results were not available at press time. The Longhorns are back home Friday to take on Yerington at 4:30 p.m.
