On Tuesday, Dec. 17, the PCHS boys’ basketball team opened its regular season at home with a 52-11 loss against North Tahoe.
Later in the week, they fell to Silver Stage (53-25) and Incline (56-39) on the road.
According to coach Ben Halverson, the losses do not detract from the team’s accomplishments.
He measures their progress against three criteria.
“These goals are first and foremost, to be good citizens who demonstrate integrity on and off the court,” he said. “The second is to work hard regardless of the circumstances and game situations. The last is to improve and show progress. In regards to these goals, we had a successful week, and I was proud of the athletes that we put onto the court.”
The Mustangs confronted a tall North Tahoe team with a plethora of six-footers. One Laker stood at 6’ 9’’.
“His presence was always in the back of our kid’s minds, which affected their concentration finishing plays around the basket,” said the coach. “We struggled to finish around the rim. That’s something we’re going to have to overcome mentally.”
On Friday, the Mustangs traveled to Silver Stage to play the Nighthawks. The coach acknowledges that Silver Stage is currently a more seasoned team than Pershing County.
“But if you watched the game, you saw two teams giving an honest, competitive effort,” he said. “At no point did it feel like we were overmatched. We made Stage work for what they got.”
“I look forward to playing them again,” said Halverson. “Hopefully, the second time around, we’ll demonstrate progress.” Pershing County hosts Silver Stage on Jan. 24, 2020.
Low numbers continue to trouble the Mustangs.
On Saturday, they traveled to Incline with six players. At the end of the long bus ride, they faced the Highlanders, the 2A Northern defending state champions.
“A lot of teams would have quit before the opening tip-off,” said the coach. “We fought hard. Our kids never showed an ounce of quit. Instead of viewing it as a single game, we broke the competition into a hundred little possession sized games and looked to win as many of those as possible.”
Tim Fecht knocked down three 3-point shots against Incline. For the first time all season, he scored in the double digits, added the coach.
“We have faith in Tim’s ability to play an important role in our offense,” said Halverson. “When he knocks down a few shots , that spreads the floor a bit and creates opportunities for his teammates.”
Friday, Jan. 3, Pershing County travels to Battle Mountain. Tuesday, Jan. 7, they head to Coral Academy.
Both games begin at 7:30 p.m.
