A lot of people get the winter blues. Luckily, Lovelock has an antidote in the form of the Pershing County High School girls basketball team.
They're a crowd-pleaser because, win or lose, they give each game their all.
This season could be big. A record-breaking 23 varsity and JV girls showed up for practice.
"We have high expectations and lots of varsity returners that are hungry to win," said coach Lee Houston.
The varsity returners are Kaydance Happy, Taylor Garland, Anna Happy, Raegan Burrows and Aaliyah Allen. Last year they led the team to zone as the fourth seed where they lost to Incline.
The Mustangs finished 18-10, overall, and 9-5 in the 2A Northern League. Incline advanced to win the state championship.
The five returners will join Kyria Angel, Kaylen Halverson, Benni Pompignoli, Yasmine McKinney and Ayren Sam on the court.
Kaydance Happy, Angel, Halverson and Pompignoli are seniors playing their last high school basketball season.
Pompignoli is an exchange student from Italy. Garland, Anna Happy and Yasmine McKinney are juniors.
The sophomores include Burrows, Allen and Sam.
The Mustangs will put their skills to the test in a round of preseason tournaments, starting with the Serpent Classic in Hawthorne on Friday, Dec. 2.
The varsity girls debut at home against Virginia City on Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 6 p.m.
The JV team includes two juniors, two sophomores and eight freshmen. Mady Grenz and Kayla Hanley are juniors. Eudosia Mendoza and Yasmin Acosta are sophomores. Everyone else will play their first year of one of Lovelock's favorite sports.
Riley Harvey, Kyra Cerini, Mia Canchola, Anika Happy, Ariana Garcia, Kenya Vaughn, Hayley Montes and Lexi Portillo are freshmen.
The JV girls host a tournament on Dec. 2-3.
Rylee Renfroe and Nova Karlson, an exchange student from Sweden, manage the team.
"So far, from what we have seen, the girls are focused on doing something special this season," said Houston. “We had an amazing tryout week. We pushed them hard and they didn’t flinch.”
