Everything was in place for the Battle Mountain High School boys basketball team to complete an improbable comeback on Thursday night in its home opener against North Tahoe.
The Lakers held an 18-point lead at halftime but saw that disappear late in the fourth quarter, when Marcus Jury converted a layup to tie the game at 48-48 with 5.2 seconds left in the contest.
However, after a time out, North Tahoe drove the court in the final seconds and Cameron McAndrews hit a shot at the buzzer to win the game 50-48 and stun the Battle Mountain crowd. Meanwhile, North Tahoe players stormed the court in jubilation.
“We defended the shot well,” said BMHS coach Roger Wallock. “You have to give the kid credit for making the shot. It was so high, I thought it was going to hit the ceiling.”
Battle Mountain appeared it would not be in that situation, after a slow start where North Tahoe took a double-digit lead in the second quarter. The Lakers made five 3-pointers in the first half and seemed to win every 50/50 free ball. North Tahoe out scored Battle Mountain 18-5 in the second quarter to force the Longhorns to take two time outs. The Lakers led 30-12 at the break.
“They just came out and worked harder than us,” Wallock said. “They were ready to go and we did not respond. At halftime, I went in and challenged our guys.”
Whatever was said at halftime worked, as Battle Mountain looked like a new team and reeled off the first 10 points of the quarter.
The Longhorns got baskets from DJ Martinez, Marcus Jury, Aldo Castellanos and Roy Chavira to cut the gap to 32-22.
The Lakers, who had little trouble with the Battle Mountain defense in the first half, were the opposite in the third quarter as the pressure from the Longhorn defense caused a number of turnovers.
North Tahoe was held scoreless for the first seven of the third quarter but still led 34-25 going into the fourth quarter.
North Tahoe put the brakes on the Battle Mountain comeback with back-to-back 3-pointers to lead 40-27 with 6:05 to play. The Lakers knocked down another 3-pointer to go in front 43-29 with 4:29 to play, only to go cold from there.
Danny Diaz started the Battle Mountain rally with a 3-pointer to trim the gap to 43-32. With the aid of missed North Tahoe free throws, Battle Mountain cut into the deficit to 46-40 after a basket by Diaz.
After two missed free throws by North Tahoe, Martinez knocked down a 3-pointer to bring Battle Mountain within three points at 46-43 with 59 seconds to play.
The next time down the floor, North Tahoe made one free throw to extend the lead to 47-43. However, that lead was gone when Diaz made a 3-point shot and was fouled. He missed the free throw and Battle Mountain trailed 47-46.
North Tahoe made one free throw once again the next time they had the ball to lead 48-46.
After a missed shot by Battle Mountain, Jury got the rebound and put back the basket to tie the game at 48-48, when North Tahoe hit the game winning shot seconds later.
“The guys have to learn they need to be ready to play from the start,” Wallock said. “We played much better in the second half but you can’t give your opponent an 18-point lead.”
Battle Mountain hosted Incline on Friday and results were not available at press time.
Battle Mountain returns to its home floor on Friday, Jan. 4, to play Silver Stage at 7:30 p.m. The Longhorns host Yerington on Saturday, Jan. 5, at 3:30 p.m.
