The Battle Mountain High School waited a little over three weeks to play on its home floor for the first time and made it count with a 51-15 win over North Tahoe on Thursday night.
The Lady Longhorns were never challenged on the night, scoring 12 consecutive points in the first quarter to take a 14-2 lead. Sruti Bhakta started the run with a 3-point, while Grace Melver added six points in the opening period. Kira Smith also added a 3-point field goal in the first eight minutes as Battle Mountain took a 16-6 advantage.
The Lady Longhorns continued to pull away in the second quarter, scoring the first 16 points to increase the gap to 32-6. The Lakers scored their lone points of the second quarter with 13 seconds to play. Bhakta knocked down another 3-point field goal to begin the quarter and Melver added three more jump shots to her total.
The duo combined for 29 points, as Bhakta matched North Tahoe’s total with 15 and Melver added 14.
It was much of the same in the second half, as Battle Mountain netted the first 13 points of the third quarter to lead 45-8. North Tahoe prevented the shut out with basket with three seconds left in the quarter.
The final eight minutes were played with a running clock, as Battle Mountain cruised to the win. In a rarity, Battle Mountain was called for just one foul on the night.
Alexis Andrade added six points for the Lady Longhorns, while Isabel Diaz and Kabrie Nield added four points each. Smith had three points, Brooke Ripley and Drue Domagala two each and Adrianna Slaybaugh one.
Battle Mountain hosted Incline on Friday night and results were not available at press time.
Battle Mountain is back on its home floor on Friday, Jan. 4, to host Silver Springs at 6 p.m. Yerington visits Battle Mountain on Saturday, Jan. 5, for a 2 p.m. tip.
