The Battle Mountain High School boys basketball team was on its home floor this past weekend for the first time to open up Northern 2A action against a pair of Lake Tahoe teams.
Incline made its way to Battle Mountain on Friday night and seemed like it could not miss a shot. The Highlanders were hot from the field and took home a 76-31 win. Incline made 10 3-pointers in the first half.
“Our team played really well,” said BMHS coach Toby Melver. We had great defensive movement and contesting every shot. We just ran into a super hot shooting team in Incline.”
Battle Mountain fed off the home crowd at the start with quick baskets from DJ Martinez and Brock Bullock to go in front 4-0. Austin Behrman added two free throws to make the score 7-3 but it was all Incline after that. The Highlanders ended the first quarter on a 25-6 run, which included six 3-pointers to lead 28-13.
Battle Mountain scored the first three points of the second quarter, but Incline ended the half on a 25-2 run, including the final 18 points of the second quarter. The Highlanders made four more 3-pointers in the second quarter and led 53-18 at halftime.
Incline opened the second half with another 3-pointer and led by as many as 41 points in the third period.
Aldo Castellanos and Martinez led Battle Mountain with 10 and eight points, respectively.
Castellanos had four rebounds and two steals and Martinez had three rebounds and two steals.
Behrman added four points and Alan Martinez, Roy Chavira and Bullock had three points apiece. Bullock had a team-high nine rebounds and Chavira grabbed eight boards
“I was proud of how we battled for rebounds and worked hard even when we fell behind,” Melver said.
Battle Mountain was back on the floor Saturday afternoon and suffered a 67-55 loss to drop to 0-2 in the Northern 2A and 5-6 overall.
The Lakers jumped out to a 21-13 advantage in the first quarter and maintained the lead from there.
North Tahoe held a 39-27 lead at halftime, when the Longhorns made a run out of the break and used an 18-13 run to cut into the deficit. That was as close as Battle Mountain got, as North Tahoe pulled away in the fourth quarter.
“We just couldn’t get the offense going smooth,” added the coach. “We hung in there in the first half and made a little run in the third quarter but had a hard time against the size of North Tahoe.”
DJ Martinez had a team-high 21 points and Castellanos added 12. Chavira had eight points, Behrman seven, Alan Martinez four and Bullock three.
Battle Mountain is off during Christmas break and is back home to play Pershing County at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 3. The Longhorns stay home to play Silver Stage at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4.
“We were able to identify some things we need to work on and get better at,” Melver said. “We look forward to getting back on the court against Lovelock and Silver Stage after the holidays.”
