What could have turned into a great weekend for the Battle Mountain High School boys basketball team, turned in to a heartbreaking end on both nights this past weekend in Battle Mountain.
The Longhorns overcame an eight-point deficit to league-leading West Wendover on Friday night, only to lose 63-58 in overtime. Battle Mountain held a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter against White Pine on Saturday, but the Bobcats scored the final 18 points of the contest to win 39-38 and drop the Longhorns to 3-7 in the Northern 2A.
Bobcats come back to beat Longhorns
After an emotional loss the night before to West Wendover, Battle Mountain was without two of its players. Aldo Castellanos suffered a concussion against West Wendover and was not cleared to play. Roy Chavira was absent due to a wedding.
Both offenses got off to a slow start on the day, but Battle Mountain took an early 6-2 lead in the first quarter and led by four points at the end of the period with the aid of a 3-point field goal by Nestor Miramontes.
DJ Martinez and Roberto Esparaza knocked down 3-point field goals midway through the second quarter to push the advantage to 19-9 and the Longhorns eventually led 21-15 at halftime.
Alex Valles scored all 11 of his team-high 11 points in the third quarter, as the senior knocked down three 3-point field goals as part of that run. Danny Diaz also made a shot from long distance as the Longhorns pushed the lead to 36-21 after three quarters of play.
Battle Mountain scored the first basket of the fourth quarter to go up 17 points but the Longhorns did not score in the final six minuted of the game.
White Pine cut the deficit to 10 points at 38-18 with 5:03 to play and were within three points at 38-25 with 75 seconds to go. The Bobcats narrowed the Longhorn lead to a point with :38 left and took the lead at 39-38 with :18.1 left on two free throws. That was the first White Pine lead since the opening basket of the contest.
White Pine had two chances to add to its lead but missed the front end of 1-and-1 free throws with :06 and :04 to play. Following the second miss, Battle Mountain got the rebound but a last-second shot rolled off the rim and out of the hoop.
DJ Martinez had six rebounds, Miramontes and Danny Diaz each had three assists and Diaz and Erik Martinez had three steals apiece.
“We didn’t score the last six minutes of the game and looked worn out from last night’s game especially since we were missing two main players,” said BMHS coach Roger Wallock. “Everyone had to play more minutes than they were used to and it showed on both ends of the court.”
West Wendover rallies to beat BMHS
Battle Mountain took on the top team in the league on Friday night and fell behind 18-10 after eight minutes of play. However, the Longhorns rallied in the second period and used a 17-11 run to close the Wolverine lead to 39-37 at halftime.
Battle Mountain came out of the break on fire and took the lead in the third quarter on the strength of an 18-15 run and held the advantage for much of the fourth quarter, until a late basket by West Wendover that tied the game.
The Wolverines regrouped in overtime and out scored Battle Mountain 8-3 to stay undefeated in league play.
DJ Martinez paced Battle Mountain with 16 points and four assists, while Marcus Jury added 12 points. Chavira finished with 11 points and four rebounds. Valles dished off four assists and Diaz had four steals.
“Very proud of the effort we gave against West Wendover,” added the coach. “We competed hard and played our best game of the season however we fell just short against a very good team.”
Battle Mountain begins a four-game road trip on Friday at Silver Stage at 7:30 p.m. The Longhorns face Yerington on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
