MCDERMITT — The McDermitt High School girls basketball team finished its regular season with a win in three games, but that victory allowed the Lady Bulldogs to host an opening-round game in the Northern 1A East Regional Championships.
McDermitt traveled to Eureka on Wednesday, Feb. 9, and lost 57-30 to the Vandals.
The Lady Bulldogs were back on their home floor on Thursday, Feb. 10, and beat Carlin 40-38.
The regular season concluded on Saturday with a 60-35 loss to regular season champion Wells. McDermitt enters the regional tournament at 5-11 overall and 2-6 in league play.
Eureka 57,
McDermitt 30.
Eureka jumped out to a 23-5 advantage in the opening eight minutes of play and held the double-digit lead from there.
The Lady Bulldogs bounced back in the second quarter and outscored the Vandals 12-10 to stay within 16 points at 33-17.
Eureka pulled away in the third quarter with a 16-5 run to secure the win. Cayla Crutcher paced McDermitt with 11 points, Vina Tom added 10, Riata Palmer six and Taylor Killsback three.
McDermitt 40,
Carlin 38
McDermitt started the game with five players and by the time the final buzzer rang there were three left on the floor. Crutcher fouled early in the fourth quarter, leaving McDermitt with four players and Palmer fouled out in the final minute.
The Lady Bulldogs scored the final six points of the first quarter off of buckets by Killsback, Tom and Palmer to give McDermitt a 12-8 lead.
The Lady Bulldogs held the Railroaders to two points in the second quarter, as Tom and Palmer each scored five points to push the advantage at 22-10 at halftime.
McDermitt led by as many as 14 points at 24-10 in the third quarter, when Carlin went on a 7-0 run to close the gap to 24-17, when Palmer made the Lady Bulldogs’ only field goal of the third quarter, a 3-pointer with less than a minute to play.
After both teams shared technical fouls in the fourth quarter, McDermitt grabbed a 35-25 lead with 3:34 to play after a free throw by Laeloni Tobey. The Lady Bulldogs foul trouble caught up, as Carlin cut into the lead and trailed by a point at 39-38 with 10.8 seconds to play after converting an old-fashioned 3-point play. Tom made 1-of-2 free throws with 8.2 seconds to go and Carlin got one final shot for the win that bounced off the rim.
Palmer and Tom paced McDermitt with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Killsback added eight, Crutcher two and Tobey one.
Wells 60,
McDermitt 35
McDermitt closes out the regular season at league-leading Wells on Saturday afternoon and the Leopards won 60-35.
Wells grabbed an early double-digit lead in the first quarter and extended the ga to 37-15 at halftime. The Lady Bulldogs kept it close in the second half, as Wells outscored the Lady Bulldogs 23-20.
McDermitt hosted Carlin in the opening round of the Northern 1A East Regional Championships. If the Lady Bulldogs won, they would play Wells on Friday at 3 p.m. at Elko High School.
Eureka lays Owyhee in the other semifinal on Friday in Elko at 6 p.m. The championship game is set for 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
