Battle Mountain to take on Pershing County in playoffs
The Battle Mountain High School boys basketball team closed out the regular season this past week with three road games.
The Longhorns won one of the three games to end the season at 7-7 in the Northern 2A and 11-11 overall.
Pershing County 62, BMHS 42
Battle Mountain made its way to Lovelock last Thursday to take on Pershing County and ran into a hot shooting Mustang squad.
The Longhorns opened with the first five points, including a 3-pointer by Blake Stuart, but it was all Pershing County after that.
The Mustangs went on a 15-3 run and eventually led 15-10 after eight minutes of action.
Boden Machado knocked down a 3-pointer to start the second quarter, but quickly afterward, Stuart went to the bench with three fouls.
Pershing County made four 3-pointers in the second quarter and converted a steal into a layup as time expired to end the first half to lead 31-17.
Dennis Wahl notched the first three baskets of the third quarter to keep Battle Mountain within nine points at 32-23.
Jr. Vazquez also added two field goals, but Pershing County seemingly had an answer for every basket and led 44-34 at halftime.
Stuart gave the Longhorns one last chance with a 3-pointer early in the fourth to cut the lead to 46-37, only to see Pershing County go on a 14-2 run to go in front 60-39. Sage Holte ended the run with a 3-pointer but it was too late for Battle Mountain.
BMHS 59, Coral Academy 22
Battle Mountain took out its frustrations on Coral Academy with a 59-22 win on Friday night in Reno.
The Longhorns jumped out to a 25-7 lead in the first quarter and held the Falcons to single digits in every quarter.
The advantage grew to 41-12 at halftime and Battle Mountain finished the night on a 10-1 run in the final eight minutes of play.
North Tahoe 59, BMHS 42
A quick snowstorm in the Reno-Lake Tahoe area made it tough going for Battle Mountain to get to Tahoe City, Calif., to play North Tahoe on Saturday. The game was postponed earlier the year and almost saw the same fate again.
After a lengthy, short trip, Battle Mountain trailed 14-9 after the first quarter and played from behind the rest of the way.
The Lakers used a 32-20 run in the second and third quarters to build a double-digit lead they did not give up.
Battle Mountain will be back in Lake Tahoe this weekend for the Northern 2A Regional Championships at Incline High School.
Battle Mountain will play Pershing County in the first round at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Each team has beaten the other by 20 points this season. The winner plays West Wendover on Friday at 4:40 p.m.
North Tahoe and Yerington play in the other opening round game on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The winner plays Incline at 8 a.m. on Friday.
The championship is set for 12:45 p.m. on Saturday. The two finalists advance to the NIAA 2A State Championships in Las Vegas on Feb. 24-25.