MCDERMITT — Following a tragic week off the court in their community, the McDermitt High School girls basketball team found a bit of relief on its home court on Saturday afternoon against rival Owyhee.
The Lady Bulldogs got off to a slow start and trailed by 17 points in the third quarter, before rallying for a 69-62 victory. The win improved McDermitt to 7-0 in league play and clinched the Eastern 1A regular season title.
“It was a long week for us and the community,” said MHS head coach Jaimi Wilkinson. “I thought we were in trouble in the third quarter. But, my girls never gave up and played great at the end. I am so proud of this team.”
Owyhee jumped out to a 10-4 advantage in a high-scoring first quarter but McDermitt’s Precious Masters would prove tough to contain for the Braves. The junior scored 12 of the Lady Bulldogs’ 14 points in the opening eight minutes of play. Her running shot down the lane tied the game at 12, only to see Owyhee close out the first quarter on a 7-2 run to lead 19-14.
Masters netted the first six points of the second quarter for McDermitt but Owyhee seemed to have an answer for every basket and continued to lead at 28-20.
“Owyhee was playing like the two-time defending state champion,” Wilkinson said. “They have three girls back from that group and are still dangerous. They were playing as about as good as they could.”
The Lady Bulldogs picked up a stretch of three free throws from Adrie Smart and Jasmine Northrup to help trim the margin to 28-24 late in the first half. The Braves answered with a 3-pointer, but Masters countered with a shot from long distance at the end of the quarter to close the gap to 31-27. Masters had 22 of the 27 points for McDermitt in the first half.
Owyhee began the third quarter with a quick 8-2 run to push the lead to 41-29 and force McDermitt to call time out 90 seconds into the third quarter. The break in the action did not help the Lady Bulldogs, as the Braves scored the next five points to push the margin to 46-29, the largest of the night.
McDermitt turned up the defensive pressure from there and began the comeback. Morissa Bitt started with a pair of put back baskets and Smart and Katie Crutcher followed with consecutive 3-pointers to close the gap to 47-41.
The Lady Bulldogs continued with full-court pressure that turned into Owyhee turnovers. Masters added two buckets to bring McDermitt within two points at 47-45. The Lady Bulldogs eventually tied the game at 47 with under a minute to play in the third quarter, capping off a 16-2 run. Owyhee eventually led 51-49 at the end of the third quarter.
“We really didn’t do anything special with the press,” Wilkinson said. “I just wanted the girls to play some defense. We went through a stretch where we were not playing very good defense.”
Owyhee made the opening basket of the fourth quarter but McDermitt rallied with the next six points, capped off by a 17-foot shot by Northrup. That gave the Lady Bulldogs their first lead since 2-0. Another long distance shot by Northrup helped McDermitt build a 60-57 lead with five minutes to play. Owyhee took the lead back one more time at 62-61, only to see Smart nail a 3-pointer with 4:22 to play to give the Lady Bulldogs the advantage for good at 64-62.
Owyhee did not score in the final five minutes of play, as McDermitt pulled away in the final two minutes behind the free throw shooting of Masters and Bitt.
“It was a big win for us,” Wilkinson. “It gives the girls confidence that they can come back and win. We have not been in that kind of position many times this year.”
Masters paced McDermitt with 34 points. Bitt and Smart joined her in double figures with 11 and points, respectively. Northrup netted six points, Katie Crutcher five and Shania Lenoir two.
McDermitt closes out its Eastern 1A schedule on Friday against Eureka at 7:30 p.m. The last time the two teams played, the Lady Bulldogs won 72-71 in overtime. Eureka and Owyhee are tied for second in the Eastern 1A at 4-3. Wells is fourth at 3-4 and plays Owyhee on Saturday.
Mineral County (14-0), Coleville, Calif. (12-2), Smith Valley (8-3) and Sierra Lutheran (7-6) are the top four teams in the Western 1A.
The Northern 1A Regional Championship takes place in Reno from Feb. 15-17. The action on Feb. 15 will be split between Wooster and North Valleys High School. The semifinals and finals will be played at North Valleys.
McDermitt steps out of league play to face Jordan Valley, Ore, on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
