The Battle Mountain High School boys basketball team picked up the wins they needed last week to close out the Northern 2A regular season. Now, the Longhorns will have to wait to see where they fit in the final standings.
BMHS gets past
Pershing County
Battle Mountain took on rival Pershing County on Tuesday, Feb. 5, and came away with a 55-40 win.
The Longhorns raced out to a 17-6 advantage and they made the lead hold up the rest of the way. A pair of baskets by DJ Martinez gave Battle Mountain the lead for good at 7-6, as the junior started an 11-0 run. Aldo Castellanos added a pair of baskets late in the first quarter and Danny Diaz connected on a 3-pointer to make the score 15-6.
Pershing County trimmed the deficit to 22-14 midway through the second quarter, only to see Battle Mountain answer with a 9-2 run. Castellanos started the run and Marcus Jury had five of the nine points during the spurt. Alex Valles also had a 3-pointer, as the Longhorns went into halftime with a 31-16 lead.
Battle Mountain kept its double-digit lead throughout the second half to complete the season sweep of the Mustangs.
Martinez paced Battle Mountain with 11 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. Diaz added 11 points, six assists and six steals and Jury had 10 points.
“We had to win our last two league games to keep us alive for postseason and I thought we handled the pressure of those must win games very well,” said BMHS coach Roger Wallock.
Longhorns fall to Serpents
Battle Mountain stepped out of league play to play one of the top teams in the 1A on Friday. Mineral County visited and left with a 67-33 win.
Mineral County held a 10-9 lead after eight minutes of play but pulled away in the middle quarters with a 39-14 run. The Serpents outscored the Longhorns 21-6 in the second quarter and 18-8 in the third.
Martinez led Battle Mountain with 12 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Roy Chavira grabbed five rebounds to go with two steals. Jury had two assists, two blocks and two steals and Castellanos had two steals.
BMHS holds off
Coral Academy
Battle Mountain closed out the regular season with a 60-43 win over Coral Academy. The game was tied at 10 after eight minutes of play but the Longhorns put the game out of reach with a 20-3 run in the second quarter.
Diaz led Battle Mountain with 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Martinez contributed 13 points, five assists and three steals.
Jury had eight points, seven rebounds and three blocks and Castellanos added five points and eight rebounds. Alex Valles finished with five points and three assists.
“We still turn the ball over too many times but we are making more shots and it was nice to score more points in those two games than we had been scoring,” Wallock said. “We still have to wait for North Tahoe to make up two weather postponed games to see where we will end up in the league standings.”
West Wendover currently leads the league at 15-1, with Incline second at 14-1. Yerington has clinched the No. 3 seed at 12-3 and Silver Stage (8-6) is fourth. White Pine is fifth at 6-9 and Battle Mountain (6-10) and North Tahoe (5-9) are sixth and seventh, respectively. North Tahoe still has two games to play.
The top two seeds receive first-round byes in the regional tournament. The Northern 2A Regional Championship will be held Feb. 21-23 at Sparks High School.
