Last Saturday’s rural basketball games were held in Orovada and began with a 24-second moment of silence for Tyler Coble (jersey No. 24), a graduate of McDermitt Combined Schools, and previous coach of the Kings River in 2018. He passed away this past week due to cancer. The first game was a Division II match-up between the Paradise Valley Panthers and McDermitt White Bulldogs. In the first quarter Axtyn Nott scored a 2-point shot as did Cooper Hoagland. Hoagland also made a free throw to follow as he was fouled on the shot, but the bucket went in. In total for the first quarter the Panthers scored five points. Dylan Palmer scored four 2-point shots for McDermitt White, bringing their first quarter score to eight. In the second quarter, Jaxson Morgan made a phenomenal steal, passing it to Hoagland who continued to put three more 2-point shots in and a free throw for seven. McDermitt Cree Camas scored the second of two free throws for one points and Treal Scott made three shots for six points, in total they ended the quarter with seven new points bringing the half time score to Paradise Valley 12 and McDermitt White 15. In the third quarter, both teams shared the ball and the game involved a lot of passing, a few crossovers and even dribbling the ball between their legs. For Paradise Valley, Aiden Matthews made the first of two 1-and-1 shots and another free throw shot for points. Jaxson Morgan made his second free throw for one point and Hoagland made three more shots and a free throw for seven. McDermitt White’s Palmer made three 2-point shots and a three for nine, Stephen Brown made a shot and Scott made two shots for four points. At the end of the third quarter McDermitt White was up 28-21. In the fourth quarter, Aiden Matthews scored two free throws, Kaleb Roberts made a shot for two points as well and Hoagland made four 2-point shots and swished two beautiful free throws. McDermitt White’s Legacy Scott scored a shot, Layton Dick made two 2 point shots, and both Dylan and Treal scored two 2 point shots, as well as Palmer making a free throw. At the end of the game McDermitt White had 43 and Paradise Valley 35. The second game was Division I contest between the Kings River Coyotes and Paradise Valley Panthers. Kings River’s Cody Allen had his shoes with both Kobe Bryant and Tyler Coble’s jersey number on them (24) and with a little determination he helped bring his team to victory. In the first quarter, Allen scored three shots and a free throw for seven points and Nathan Thompson made two shots for four more. Hoagland made two free throws and at the end of the first quarter the score was 11-2. In the second quarter, Allen made a free throw and two more 2-point shots, Yarlet Calderon also made a free throw, Isaac Warner made a 2-point shot and so did Thompson. Paradise’s No. 10 made two shots, Zyra Villa made a shot and Natalie Mori made a free throw for one point. By the half ,Kings River was ahead 21-9. However, the team work and ball handling from Paradise Valley had improved from last week’s game. The third quarter saw Thompson score a 2-point shot for the Coyotes. The Panthers’ Mori made 3-of-6 free throw shots and the third quarter ended Kings River 23, Paradise Valley 12. Mori continued to put the free throws in once Kings River got into foul trouble, she made four more free throw shots and two 2-point shots and Taylor Dvorovy also made a shot for two points. If someone exhibited positivity and joy this little lady was it. She was upbeat and happy all day long. Kings Rivers’ Isaac Warner scored two more shots in the fourth quarter and Nathan Thompson made a 2-point shot and free throw for three points. At the end of the game Kings River had 30 and Paradise Valley 22. At 11 a.m., the Denio/Fields Outlaws took on the McDermitt Blue Bulldogs for the second time this season in Division II. The previous week McDermitt beat Denio 23-18, but this week was different, although a great game to watch. In the first quarter McDermitt Blue’s Samuel Crutcher scored a shot, while the Outlaws’ Maddox Norris scored two shots for four points and Bergen Hagbom also made a shot for two more. By the end of the first quarter the score was 6-2. In the second quarter, McDermitt’s Bryson Hunter, made a shot Cayden Crutcher made a shot and a free throw. Denio/Fields moved the ball around against a tough defense that continued to set up a trap for them in the corner of the court. Margie Adamson scored two points, Maddox Norris made a shot, as did, Thaddius Downs and Bergen Hagbom. Oscar Maley made two 2-point shots for and by the half Denio/Fields had 18 points on the scoreboard and McDermitt Blue had 7. In the third quarter, the Outlaws’ defense put the kibosh to Blue’s offensive game and McDermitt did not score a single point. Denio/Fields’ Freya Hagbom made a free throw and her brother Bergen made two 2-point shots, bringing the score to 23-7 at the end of third quarter. McDermitt Blue came back full force though in the fourth quarter, scoring 17 points (#4-3, #23-2, #33-10, and #37-2) and bringing their score to 26. Denio/Fields made seven additional points also (#13-2, #16-3, and #23-2) At the end of the game Denio/Fields 30 and McDermitt Blue 26. The Division III teams played at intermission. Orovada played two games, one against Paradise and one against Denio-Fields. They had gigantic smiles and worked on putting their hands up on defense, dribbling, and shooting the ball at the basket. The coaches that worked with them and ran up and down the court deserve high praise. At 1:30 p.m., Orovada and McDermitt Division I teams played one another. Orovada’s Robert Depaoli scored a 2-point shot in the first quarter. AJ Farmer and Jeremiah Horn each put up a 2-point shot and Eli Northrup put up another two shots. At the end of the first quarter McDermitt led 8-2. In the second quarter, Depaoli scored two free throws for two more points, Walker Smith made a shot and Colton Elam made a free throw. McDermitt spread its shots out amongst players. Jeremiah Horn made a shot, as did Kiarra Crutcher. Cierra Smart scored two shots for and Reign Crutcher made the post position look easy making two shots and another two free throws. At the half McDermitt led 22-7. In the third quarter, the home team did well, as Walker Smith made four shots and Elam made a 2-point shot. Depaoli made a 2-point shot and two free throws. McDermitt answered back with Reese Wilkinson making four points, Eli Northrup made two and so did Reign Crutcher. The third quarter ended 30-21 with McDermitt in the lead. The fourth quarter the small team of Orovada had run out of steam. Depaoli made a free throw for one point, however, McDermitt’s Horn and Wilkinson each scored a 2-point shot. Kiarra Crutcher, Cierra Smart, and Reign Crutcher all scored two 2-point shots. With the addition of 16 points in third quarter McDermitt won 46-22. Next week’s games will be held in Paradise Valley. Paradise and McDermitt Blue’s team will have double header games that weekend. There has been a schedule change due to the steak feed in Denio that evening. Rather than their Division I game against the Panthers at 2:30 p.m. to end the day, they have swapped for the 1:30 p.m. slot. That means at 9 a.m., McDermitt Blue will take on McDermitt White for the second time this season. At 10 a.m., Kings River will play against McDermitt’s Division I team. And at 11 a.m., Denio/Fields will go against McDermitt White. At noon, the K-3 players will play and Denio/Fields will have two games. At 1:30 p.m. Paradise and Denio/Fields’ Division I teams will play and the final game will beat 2:30 p.m. between Paradise against McDermitt Blue Division II. A huge thanks to the communities, as this could not happen without your support and collaboration. Thanks for setting up the smaller baskets for the Division II games, concessions, and pitching in to run the clock, sweep the floor, put away chairs, or whatever tasks need to be handled. Thanks also to Jeff Thompson and Sean Millikan for officiating. Thank you to the coaches for volunteering to spend evenings and weekends to help instill the fundamentals of basketball and sportsmanship into these young athletes. Every one of you is appreciated.
