With the regular season coming to an end this weekend, the Battle Mountain High School girls basketball team pretty much knows its position in the upcoming Northern 2A Regional Championships.
The Lady Longhorns were looking to close out its home schedule on a high note this past weekend.
Battle Mountain split its two games, beating West Wendover 49-37 on Friday night and losing 42-30 to White Pine on Saturday afternoon. Battle Mountain stands at 15-10 overall and 8-6 in the Northern 2A.
In Friday’s game, both teams struggled offensively in the first half as Battle Mountain held West Wendover to just four field goals in the first 16 minutes of play.
The Wolverines scored the first bucket of the contest, but the Lady Longhorns closed out the first quarter on an 8-1 run.
Battle Mountain picked up a pair of baskets by Jade Castellanos and Addi Slaybaugh and Brynlee Freeman added bucket to take a 16-12 lead at halftime.
Battle Mountain found its offensive flow in the third quarter, scoring 20 points out of the break, going inside to Kaybrie Nield and Freeman. Nield had 10 points in the quarter and Freeman added four more.
“We were looking to get the ball to Kaybrie early in the game, but she saw the ball probably once in the first half,” said BMHS coach Paul Tremayne. “We had a little talk at halftime and we got the ball to her more in the second half. We need to get Brynlee to score more as well.”
Battle Mountain opened a 36-23 in the third quarter and never saw the deficit drop below double figures the rest of the way.
Nield had a team-high 16 points, Zarina Ceja and Castellanos added eight points apiece, Freeman six, Slaybaugh five and Mariana Rangel and Isabel Diaz had two points apiece.
BMHS falls to
White Pine
Battle Mountain took on White Pine in the home finale and a slow start led to a 42-30 loss to the No. 2 ream in the Northern 2A.
The Ladycats opened the contest on an 11-2 run in the first eight minutes of play and held that advantage the rest of the way.
“We started this game very slow on offense,” added the coach. “We had some good looks at the basket, just did not convert.”
White Pine led 21-12 at halftime and Battle Mountain cut the deficit to six points midway through the third quarter, but could not get any closer.
Nield led Battle Mountain with eight points and six rebounds and Smith finished with seven points.
“We just could not get over the hump in the second half,” Tremayne said. “The girls played hard and did a lot of good things. We just have to make baskets. We are into the last week of the regular season. We hope to continue to improve and get ready for the regional tournament.”
Incline leads the Northern 2A at 13-1 and White Pine and Yerington are tied for second at 12-2. Battle Mountain and Pershing County are tied for fourth and will play each other in the opening round of the Northern 2A Regional Championships in Lovelock on Thursday, Feb. 20.
Silver Stage (3-10), North Tahoe (3-11) and West Wendover (3-11) are fighting for the final playoff spot.
The top six teams qualify for the regional tournament and the top two teams receive first-round byes.
Battle Mountain travels to Reno on Friday to play Coral Academy at 6 p.m. and close the regular season on Saturday at Yerington at 2 p.m.
