Lady Bulldogs rally falls short against Vandals
#The battle for the top spot in the Eastern 1A looked a little different this past Friday, as both the McDermitt High School girls basketball team and league leading Eureka were missing players.
#The Lady Bulldogs were without two of their starters but gave the Vandals everything they could handle.
#Eureka scored the final eight points of the game to win 32-24 and clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern 1A Regional tournament in Elko on Feb. 17-18.
#McDermitt dropped to 6-2 in league play and 17-4 overall. McDermitt needs a win over Wells this weekend to clinch the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the regional tournament.
#Eureka scored the first seven points of the night, when freshman Alexis Scott ended the run with a free throw with 4:33 left in the opening quarter.
#The Lady Bulldogs collected their first field goal on a putback by fellow freshman Reign Crutcher with just over two minutes to play in the first quarter.
#The Vandals led 13-5 after eight minutes of play.
#After a slow start, McDermitt started to finds its groove on offense, as freshman Cierra Smart opened the second quarter with a runner that went in the hoop and Crutcher knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the gap to 13-10 with 2:55 left in the first half.
#Eureka pushed the advantage back to 17-10, scoring off a turnover but McDermitt closed the gap to 17-13 at half, as Crutcher converted an old-fashioned 3-point play. Crutcher finished the game with nine points.
#McDermitt tied the game twice in the third quarter off of baskets by Nicolette Northrup and Riata Palmer and tied the game one last time at the start of the fourth quarter off a layup by Kiarra Crutcher.
#That basket turned out to be the last points for the Lady Bulldogs.
#Eureka spent the final 3:26 of the contest at the free throw line, including a technical foul with two minutes to play and an intentional foul with 54.8 seconds to go.
#The Vandals were not perfect at the line, but made enough to pull away for the eight-point win.
#Alexis Scott added five points, Kiarra Crutcher four and Smart, Palmer and Northup two each.
#McDermitt closes out the regular season at home against Jackpot on Friday at 5 p.m. and Wells on Saturday at 1 p.m.