The Battle Mountain High School boys basketball team had to wait until the final second on Saturday, to complete a weekend sweep at home in the Northern 2A and finish the first half of the season at 5-3.
The Longhorns held a two-point lead against Yerington on Saturday afternoon and escaped with a 51-49 victory, after the Lions’ last-second shot came up short from 30 feet.
“It was a tough, hard-fought game,” said BMHS coach Toby Melver. “We played pretty well in the first half but came out flat in the second half and Yerington took advantage of it.”
DJ Martinez provided just about all the first quarter offense for the Longhorns, as the senior opened the game with back-to-back 3-pointers and scored the first 10 points for Battle Mountain.
Yerington went scoreless for the first three minutes of the contest. Aldo Castellanos added the other four points for the Longhorns, who led 14-9 after eight minutes of play.
The Lions closed the gap two 14-12, beginning the second quarter with their first 3-pointer of the night, only to see the lead back to 22-17 after two buckets by Castellanos and another from Brock Bullock. The advantage grew to 30-21 at halftime, after four more points from Martinez.
Yerington came out of the break red-hot from the field, making three 3-pointers in less than 80 seconds to tie the game at 30. Battle Mountain regrouped and picked baskets from Castellanos and Martinez to go back up by four points at 34-30.
However, the Lions answered with five straight points, including another 3-pointer to take their first lead of the night at 35-34. Battle Mountain came back to go in front after three quarters at 37-35, when Austin Behrman put back a missed free throw.
The fourth quarter proved to be hectic, as the teams traded the lead on a number of occasions. Yerington tied the game at 38 on an old-fashioned 3-point play, but Battle Mountain quickly went ahead after a basket by Castellanos.
The Lions turned the tables to go up by one with another 3-point play, only to see Castellanos answer again to put the Longhorns ahead 42-41.
After the lead switched hands again. Martinez knocked down another 3-pointer to put Battle Mountain ahead 45-43.
The back-and-forth fight continued, as Yerington knocked down a 3-pointer and made a free throw to lead 47-45 with three minutes to play. With Castellanos out with knee injury in the last two minutes, the advantage changed hands twice again, with Yerington ahead 49-48 with 90 seconds to go.
Martinez put Battle Mountain up for good with a basket with 35 seconds to play and Bullock added a free throw to make the margin two points, as Yerington missed the final shot.
Martinez paced Battle Mountain with 24 points and Castellanos had 17 points and eight rebounds. Behrman added five points, Bullock three and Alan Martinez two.
“I was real happy with how we played down the stretch,” Melver said. “We hit some important free throws and then gutting it out on defense to hold on for the win.”
Longhorns cruise
past Falcons
Battle Mountain hosted Coral Academy on Friday and cruised to a 74-34 win. The Longhorns put 49 points in the first half, outscoring the Falcons 24-11 I the first quarter and 25-14 in the second. The contest was played with a running clock in the third quarter after a 17-5 run by Battle Mountain.
The Longhorns had four players score in double figures, led by DJ Martinez with 18. Jay Narramore added 11 and Castellanos and Behrman each had 10 points. Alan Martinez added nine points, Bullock eight, Junior Vasquez four and Harley Kelley and Kobe Lake had two points apiece. Behrman grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and Alan Martinez had four steals.
“We came out real strong and fast and ended the game the same way,” said the coach. Everyone got good playing time and we ended up with four guys in double figures, which showed good balance.”
Battle Mountain is back on the road this weekend to play Incline on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and North Tahoe on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The Longhorns are at home on Tuesday to play Wells at 6 p.m.
“Those two wins put us at 5-3 for the first half of league season,” Melver said. “It’s a great record and looking forward to getting better in the second half and trying to qualify for the zone tournament.”
