The Battle Mountain High School boys basketball team opened the Northern 2A Regional Championships this past Thursday at the Winnemucca Junior High School against North Tahoe.
The Longhorns stayed within striking distance for three quarters but the Lakers pulled away late for a 56-41 win to end Battle Mountain’s season at 9-13 overall.
Terrance Fetterly scored the first five points of the night for the Longhorns, including an old-fashioned 3-point play to tie the game at 5-5.
However, North Tahoe went on a quick 9-0 run to take control, when Aydan Samuelson connected on a bucket and Evan Gonzalez hit a 3-pointer to close the gap to 14-10 after eight minutes of action.
The lead grew back to nine points at 23-14 in the second quarter, but Fetterly kept the Longhorns within striking distance with six points in the second quarter. After baskets by Samuelson and Dennis Wahl, Fetterly’s basket, the end of the first half brought Battle Mountain within five points at 25-20.
The Longhorns made another run in the third quarter, getting a 3-pointer from Gonzalez and a basket by Fetterly to trail North Tahoe 29-26 midway through the third quarter.
That was as close as Battle Mountain got, as North Tahoe pushed the advantage to 37-30 at the start of the fourth quarter. The Lakers netted the first five points of the fourth quarter to lead by double figures.
That advantage drooped to 42-33 after a 3-pointer by Jr Vazquez, but the Lakers went on a 9-3 run from there to seize control of the contest.
Fetterly paced Battle Mountain with 20 points, Gonzalez and Samuelson each had six points, Vazquez five and Sean Bengoa and Wahl two each.
It was the final game for seniors Evan Gonzalez, Aydan Samuelson, Terrance Fetterly and Marcos Jimenez.
