It may not seem it at the moment, but there is a reason why basketball players shoot free throws at practice for seemingly endless hours during the week.
That time in the gym paid off for the Battle Mountain High School girls basketball team on Friday night. The Longhorns made 30-of-42 free throws to help rout Yerington 66-37 to improve to 2-2 in the Division III North and 8-7 overall.
“That is probably the best that we have shot free throws in a long time,” said BMHS coach Paul Tremayne. “You make that many and shoot that many free throws, you are going to win a lot of games.”
Despite the final outcome, Battle Mountain struggled in the first quarter, trailing 6-0 at one time, when McKenna Jones ended a five-minute scoreless streak with the Lady Longhorns’ first bucket.
Yerington led 10-5 late in the opening period when it was called for a technical foul for having six players on the floor. Grace Melver knocked down both free throws and Battle Mountain added two more free throws to cut the deficit to a point at 10-9 at the end of the quarter.
The Lady Longhorns continued to spend time at the charity stripe, as Riane Schroeder gave Battle Mountain its first lead at 11-10. The senior scored seven of the first 10 points in the second quarter to help the Lady Longhorns build a 21-12 advantage and cap off a 16-2 run.
Battle Mountain did not make a field goal in the final 3:34 of the second quarter, making two free throws, as Yerington climbed within four points, 23-19 at the break.
Leading 30-27, Battle Mountain poured it on in the final minutes of the third quarter to blow the game open. Melver began a 14-0 run with basket that was followed by a 3-point field goal from Sruti Bhakta. Most of the points came off easy baskets created by the Lady Longhorns’ full-court press.
With Yerington is big foul trouble, Battle Mountain continued to grow its lead in the fourth quarter. Field goals by Jones, Melver and Bhakta pushed the lead to 62-37 as the Lady Longhorns closed out the fourth quarter on an 18-6 run and outscored the Lions 43-17 in the second half.
“We played good tonight,” Tremayne said. “Scoring 25 points in a quarter for us is big. We know we can play with anybody in our league. On any given night a team can knock off an other.”
Battle Mountain hits the road for two games this weekend, beginning Friday night in Lovelock against Pershing County at 6 p.m. The Lady Longhorns head to Silver Springs on Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. tip against Silver Stage.
