With the second half of the Northern 2A season beginning this past weekend, the Battle Mountain High School girls basketball team is looking to position itself for the best possible playoff seeding for the regional tournament in Sparks next month.
The Lady Longhorns saw two teams going in different direction last weekend at home. Battle Mountain hosted West Wendover, a team near the bottom of the 2A standings, and won 48-31. White Pine, the top team in the Northern 2A visited Saturday afternoon and left undefeated with a 37-26 win.
“We played pretty good against White Pine,” said BMHS coach Paul Tremayne. “We held the best team in the league to 37 points. This was our first game where our injuries really came into play on the offensive side of the ball. We got into early foul trouble and that didn’t help us either.”
Battle Mountain held White Pine scoreless for the first three minutes of the contest and picked up buckets from Sruti Bhakta and Grace Melver to take a 4-0 lead. However, Melver was whistled for two quick fouls in the first quarter, which took her off the floor for much of the quarter. The senior picked up her third foul at the start of the second quarter, missing much of that period as well.
Battle Mountain erased the five-point deficit in the second quarter after a bucket by Kabrie Nield brought the Lady Longhorns within a point at 11-10. Moments later and before picking up her third foul, Melver knocked down a 3-pointer to give Battle Mountain a 13-10 advantage. Addie Slaybaugh and Kira Smith added buckets late in the first half and the Lady Longhorns led 17-16 at halftime.
However, the offense went silent in the second half for the Lady Longhorns, scoring just nine points in the final 16 minutes. Battle Mountain went nearly four minutes without a point to begin the third quarter. Melver scored the lone four points of the third quarter for the Lady Longhorns.
White Pine started the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run to go in front 33-21, for its largest advantage of the night. A 3-pointer by Bhakta with 2:03 left go brought the Lady Longhorns within seven points at 33-26 but Battle Mountain got no closer.
“I still feel we can play and beat anybody in our league,” Tremayne said. “We had a couple opportunities today and just didn’t take advantage of it.”
Lady Longhorns knock off Wolverines
Battle Mountain started the weekend on a high note with a 48-31 win over West Wendover to complete the season sweep of the Elko County school.
Melver paced Battle Mountain with 13 points and nine rebounds. Slaybaugh joined her in double figures with 10 points and Sheradyn Slaybaugh had six points and eight rebounds.
“The girls played a real solid game both offensively and defensively,” Tremayne said. “We need to just keep working and getting prepared for regionals.”
Battle Mountain sits at 5-4 and in fourth place in the Northern 2A. White Pine leads the league at 10-0, while Incline is second at 8-1 and Yerington is third at 5-4. Pershing County (4-5) and Silver Stage (3-5) hold the final two playoff spots for the regional tournament.
Battle Mountain starts a four-game road trip this weekend, starting Friday night at Silver Stage at 6 p.m.
The Lady Longhorns take on Yerington on Saturday at 2 p.m. Battle Mountain heads to Lake Tahoe on Thursday, Jan. 31, to play Incline at 6 p.m. and North Tahoe on Friday, Feb. 1, at 2 p.m.
The Lady Longhorns are back on their home floor on Tuesday, Feb. 5, to play Pershing County at 6 p.m.
