The first part of the Northern 2A schedule has provided Battle Mountain with its longest road trips of the season.
The last time the Battle Mountain High School boys basketball team was on the floor in a competitive game was Dec. 17, in Incline, where the Longhorns were defeated by the Highlanders.
After a long Christmas break, Battle Mountain was back on the road this past weekend. The Longhorns lost 69-43 on Friday night to West Wendover, but bounced back to beat White Pine 59-50 on Saturday.
Battle Mountain gave West Wendover fits for the first 16 minutes of play. The Wolverines built a six-point lead after the first quarter, but the Longhorns trailed just 29-24 at halftime.
West Wendover grabbed control in the third quarter with a 25-6 run and did not look back.
Chris Figueroa paced Battle Mountain with 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Miles Piramide added 13 points and three steals. Mason Fuller netted six points and Austin Wallock and Erik Martinez had three points apiece. Sergio Diaz had a team-high four assists.
“We were competitive with West Wendover until the third quarter where we turned the ball over multiple times leading to easy baskets for them,” said BMHS coach Roger Wallock. “We went from seven points down to 30 in about five minutes of play. We then were competitive for the rest of the game, outscoring them in the fourth quarter but the damage was done and we left wondering what kind of team we were going to be this year.”
Longhorns rally to beat Bobcats
It appeared that Battle Mountain was still down from the night before in the first half against White Pine. The Bobcats ran out to an 18-11 advantage in the first quarter and maintained a 36-26 lead at halftime
Battle Mountain rallied for five straight points to get the deficit to 10 points at the break and it dominated the final 16 minutes. The Longhorns held the Bobcats to 14 points in the second half. A 15-7 run in the third quarter brought Battle Mountain within three points.
Battle Mountain outscored White Pine 18-7 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
Fuller and Figueroa led Battle Mountain with 21 and 18 points, respectively. Figueroa finished with a double-double with 19 rebounds, seven steals and six assists. Piramide had nine points and Reese Artz added six.
“The uncertainty continued for almost the entire first half against White Pine,” Wallock said. “We were down by 15 points with a minute to play in the first half and something clicked with our defense. We picked up the full court pressure, got two steals and scored five points to cut it to 10 at half. More importantly, we got fired up and started to believe in ourselves again. The second half was our best full court defense of the year, causing many Bobcat turnovers. We climbed all the way back for the lead and held on making many clutch free throws down the stretch.”
Battle Mountain was back on the floor on Tuesday in Lovelock against Pershing County. Results were not available at press time.
Battle Mountain hosts Yerington on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Silver Stage on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
