It was a busy and successful week for the Battle Mountain High School junior varsity boys basketball team.
The Longhorns picked up three wins, including two in Northern 2A action.
Battle Mountain hosted Independence on Tuesday, Jan. 24, and beat the Colts 46-27 in a non-conference outing. The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with the game tied at 18 at halftime. However, the Longhorns regrouped at the break and pulled away in the second half.
Roy Chavira had a team-high 11 points and Alex Valles and Eddie Morfin each netted eight points.
“We played a decent first half, but we made the right adjustments at halftime and that was where we won the game,” said BMHS coach Tyler Samuelson. “We were missing our leading scorer, Bradley (Rogers), so we knew that everyone as a team had to step up and contribute a little bit, and we did just that.”
Battle Mountain hit the road for two road games this past weekend, starting with a 55-15 win over Silver Stage. The Longhorns jumped out to a 23-2 advantage in the first quarter and never looked back.
Chavira had 12 points, Morfin 10 and Rogers nine.
“The last time we played this team it was a defensive battle, but this time our offense took control early and we never gave any ground,” Samuelson said. “We were much better at attacking the basket this game than we were last time, and that was really the difference. We were getting shots right at the rim, instead of launching 3-pointers.
Battle Mountain finished off the road trip on Saturday with a 42-33 victory over Yerington. It was low-scoring contest through 16 minutes, with the Longhorns in front 15-12 at halftime. Battle Mountain scored 16 points in the third quarter to pull away.
Chavira netted 12 points, Marcus Jury added nine and Roberto Esparaza had eight.
“This was another low scoring game in the first half, with both teams playing solid defense,” Samuelson said. “We figured out their full court press in the 3rd quarter which was the difference maker, with us scoring 16 points in that period. Yerington is a good team, we just happen to be playing our best basketball of the season right now.”
Battle Mountain hosts West Wendover on Friday at 4:30 p.m. and White Pine on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
