The McDermitt High School girls basketball squad headed off to Idaho to take on the Rimrock Raiders on Saturday, Jan. 5, in a non-conference meeting.
The Raiders brought a 9-0 overall record and a 4-0 conference record into the game.
The Lady Bulldogs lost a heartbreaker 41-40 to bring their season record to 8-3 overall.
Rimrock led by three points, 10-7 after eight minutes of play when McDermitt took over in the second and third quarters.
The Lady Bulldogs out scored the Raiders 18-4 in the second quarter to lead 25-14 at halftime.
McDermitt extended the lead to 38-23 after the third quarter, only to see Rimrock end the game on a 18-2 run to complete the comeback.
“We played very well for three quarters and literally imploded in the fourth," said MHS head coach Jaimi Wilkinson. "We lost focus and lost a game that we should have won. We had them where we wanted them going into the fourth quarter, and then we couldn’t finish at the basket or defend. Rimrock is a very good 1A team in Idaho and they are expected to make a run in their playoffs.”
Precious Masters is averaging 27 points and 16 rebounds per game for McDermitt.
Masters posted a double-double in Rimrock with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Junior Jasmine Northrup added nine points, including three 3-pointers. She also had eight rebound sand four steals.
Sophomore Katie Crutcher netted seven points to go with six assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Fellow sophomore Katie Sam had six points and Takayla Antonio had two points. Antonio contributed two rebounds and two steals.
The Lady Bulldogs head to Wells for their first conference game on Friday at 6 p.m.
“We start league play this weekend, and we need to be able to put opponents away and keep them there,” Wilkinson said. “It was a tough way to lose, but at least it happened in pre-season. Hopefully we can get back in the gym and focus on finishing games.”
McDermitt comes home to face Carlin on Friday, Jan. 18, for a 6 p.m. match-up, and its rivalry game with Owyhee is at McDermitt on Saturday, Jan. 19, at 2:30 p.m.
The top four finishers in the Eastern 1A qualify for the Northern 1A Regional Championships in Reno from Feb. 21-23 at Wooster High School and another high school in the area.
