After a rough start to the Northern 2A schedule with three losses in four games, the Battle Mountain High School girls basketball team bounced back in a big way with three victories last week.
The Lady Longhorns put themselves back in the playoff hunt, starting with a 47-38 win at Pershing County on Tuesday, Jan. 10. The last time the two rivals met was a play-in game for the Northern 2A regional tournament, which the Lady Longhorns won.
Battle Mountain got the best of Pershing County once again, using a 17-5 run to start the contest. The Lady Longhorns led 29-13 at halftime and cruised from there.
Sruti Bhakta led Battle Mountain with 11 points, five assists and five steals. Paige Ripley added nine points and six rebounds and Yulisa Vazquez had eight points.
“The girls played real hard and created some easy opportunities,” said BMHS coach Paul Tremayne. “I thought we rebounded the ball real well. We dealt with there man pressure real well. We needed this win we have been on the road basically the entire season. We had some tough luck last weekend. Hopefully, this puts us back on track to achieve our goal of a regional and state tournament trip.”
BMHS holds off Yerington
Battle Mountain took to the floor last Friday and was playing in an unfamiliar spot — it’s own gym. After building a double-digit advantage in the third quarter, the Lady Longhorns had to hold on for a 38-37 win.
“We played good in spurts against Yerington,” Tremayne said. “We did not shoot particular well. The girls had a nice run in the third quarter and got a 10-point lead. We had to kind of hang on at the end. It was a good win for us.”
Grace Melver, Bhakta and Vazquez each had eight points to pace the Lady Longhorns. Riane Schroeder scored six.
Lady Longhorns crush Nighthawks
Battle Mountain extended its winning streak to three games with a 66-31 win over Silver Stage on Saturday. The Lady Longhorns led 28-17 at halftime and scored the first 10 points of the second half to pull away.
Bhakta had 12 points and seven steals and Melver joined her with 12 points as well. Schroeder netted eight points and grabbed nine rebounds and Vazquez had eight points.
“It was a good weekend for us,” Tremayne said. “It was nice to finally play at home. We are right in the middle of the divisional race.”
Battle Mountain hosts North Tahoe on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Incline on Saturday at 2 p.m.
