The Battle Mountain High School boys basketball team traveled to Pershing County High School on Tuesday, Jan. 9, and saw their 13-game winning streak come to an end.
The Longhorns renewed their long-standing rivalry with Pershing County, while the Mustangs were coming off a severe blow out loss to the West Wendover Wolverines and desperate for a victory against the league-leading Longhorns.
Battle Mountain started off quickly and captured an early lead in the first quarter with Chris Figueroa, Mile Piramide and Mason Fuller knocking down the first three shots of the game. The baskets jumped the lead to 8-0 in favor of the Longhorns. The Mustangs were able to respond but got into foul trouble early and were forced to sit guard Derek Sandusky with two fouls. The Longhorns led at the end of the first quarter 10-6.
In the second quarter, both teams scored 14 points with Reese Artz and Piramide leading the Longhorns in scoring for the quarter. Pershing County continued to struggle with fouls but the Longhorns could not capitalize off the Mustangs mistakes, missing several free throws. In total, the Longhorns failed to make 15 free throws against the Mustangs. The Longhorns went into the half with the lead at 24-20.
“We struggled with free throws and didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to grow our lead,” said BMHS head coach Roger Wallock, “Lovelock is a tough team to beat when they get the lead, they make their free throws and take care of the ball.”
The Longhorns held their lead through the third quarter, at 42-40. In the fourth quarter, Sandusky took over the game with several key shots to help Pershing County regain the lead. The Longhorns defense then focused on stopping the Mustangs offensive attack, allowed Kyle Barter to hit two critical shots late in the final period.
The Longhorns last attempt to get back into the game fell short, with the Mustangs hitting their free throws late, resulting in the final score of 61-51.
“It hurts to lose a game like this, but as long as we can win our games against Yerington and Silver Stage at home, we will still be in the right position to win the league this year,” Wallock said. “We have to take it a weekend at a time, and we should be fine moving forward.”
Battle Mountain will see the Mustangs again on Tuesday, Jan 23, at home. The Longhorns hope to avenge their loss in front of loud Battle Mountain crowd.
Battle Mountain got back on the winning track this past Friday, with a double overtime win over Yerington.
Yerington would not make it easy for Battle Mountain, as the Lions offense was clicking on all cylinders. At the end of the first quarter, the Longhorns led the Lions 18-16. Battle Mountain looked to have the game under control, after a strong second quarter. They went into halftime with as 36-24 lead.
Out of the break, Yerington fought its way back into the game, outscoring Battle Mountain 14-6 in the third quarter. That run cut the Longhorns lead to 48-42.
The Lions, lead by guard Steven Keats, went shot-for-shot with the Longhorns in the fourth, ultimately taking the lead. With under a minute left in the game, the Lions led the game 57-54. With only seconds left in the game, Battle Mountain set a screen for Mason Fuller, who drilled a game-tying 3-point shot to force overtime.
In the first overtime, with just over a minute to go, the Lions led the Longhorns 66-61. Figueroa forced the Lions defenders into fouling him and set up for free throws. Figueroa hit three of four free throws to get the Longhorns back within two points, when Piramide forced a turnover and immediately made a layup to tie the game. The score forced the second overtime, with the score tied at 66-66.
The Longhorns and Lions remained tied at 69 points, when Fuller was fouled and made a free throw to take the lead. After Battle Mountain stopped Yerington, the Lions were forced to foul again and this time Danny Diaz made both shots giving the Longhorns a three-point lead, with only seconds left in the game. The Lions were unable to get an open shot up in the final seconds, securing the Longhorns victory at 72-69 in double overtime.
“This one was a barn burner,” Wallock said. “We played really well in first half but they switched to an extended zone defense in the third quarter and we struggled for a bit to figure out how to score against it. This allowed Yerington to claw back into the game then it was a heavyweight fight till the end. We were down at end of regulation by 3, with only a few seconds left and ran a quick hitting play for Mason, who hit a clutch shot to send it to overtime. Then we were down five points with a little over a minute to play in the first overtime. Again, we come back from the dead with a flurry that ended with a Miles' steal, to tie the game again. Really proud of the no quit attitude from these guys and it was a really fun, huge win for us”
Fuller led the Longhorns in scoring, with 20 points off seven of 15 shooting, while Figueroa led the Longhorns in rebounding, with nine in the game. Piramide finished the game second in both categories, with 18 points and eight rebounds against the Lions.
On Saturday, Battle Mountain returned to the court after its double-overtime victory the night before. Battle Mountain faced off with Silver Stage, who was desperate to earn its first league win of the season.
The Longhorns would not have a setback though. They forced the Nighthawks' best offensive threat, Kevin Kable into foul trouble early in the first quarter. Kable still led the Nighthawks to a first-quarter lead at 20-17.
Battle Mountain responded and led 32-31 at halftime.
Silver Stage surprised Battle Mountain with its effort and hit some tightly contested 3-point shots to help the Nighthawks regain the lead at the end of the third quarter at 52-50 but lost Kable to fouls.
The fourth quarter belonged to the Longhorns, as Figueroa, who had 29 points in the game, helped Battle Mountain score 28-points in the quarter. Piramide hit two critical 3-point shots in the quarter, while Fuller hit a third. The Longhorns finished the game with a 15-point victory, with the final score 78-63.
"I was worried about a let-down after the intense game the night before and I am not sure if that's what happened to us or we just ran into the biggest player in our league. He dominated for about three quarters until he fouled out and we took control of the game in the fourth,” Wallock said, “Chris (Figueroa) was a monster in this game, even against the 6'8" behemoth and was responsible for getting the crucial fouls on him by attacking him in the post. I was impressed with the way my guys find a way to win, even when things looked bleak against us. It was the positive response we needed after losing to Lovelock on Tuesday.”
Figueroa led the game in scoring with 29 points off 12 of 13 shooting and led the Longhorns in rebounds with 10 in the game. Piramide and Fuller also scored points in bunches, with Piramide scoring 16 points and Fuller scoring 14 against the Nighthawks.
The Longhorns (15-3 and 6-1 in league) sit on top of the Northern 2A league standings. The Longhorns traveled to Wells to take on the Leopards on Tuesday. The Longhorns travel to Incline and North Tahoe this weekend.
