McDermitt knocks off Owyhee, heads to state tournament

ELKO — For the first time since 2019 and the second since 2016, the McDermitt High School girls basketball team is headed back to the NIAA State Tournament.

McDermitt held off late rally by Owyhee on Friday night at Elko High School, to beat the Braves 42-39 and punch its ticket to Reno later this week.

The Lady Bulldogs advanced to the 1A East Regional Championship on Saturday afternoon in Elko, but suffered a 50-40 loss to the Vandals. McDermitt is 20-6 on the season.

McDermitt 42, Owyhee 39

During the regular season, McDermitt collected a pair of easy wins over its rival but the postseason match-up proved to be much closer.

The Lady Bulldogs grabbed an early 14-10 advantage after eight minutes of action and held a 21-16 lead at halftime.

McDermitt stretched the margin to double figures with a 15-7 run in the third quarter to go in front 36-23. 

However, the Braves slowly trimmed the deficit throughout the final eight minutes to within a tying basket. In the end, the Lady Bulldogs held on for the three-point win.

McDermitt coach Tule O’Rourke noted that the squad had a handful of turnovers in the fourth quarter that led to the Owyhee rally.

Freshman Reign Crutcher paced McDermitt with 19 points and fellow freshman Kiarra Crutcher added seven.  

Freshman Sadie Hinkey netted four points, Vina Tom and Loni Tobey netted three each and Cierra Smart, Alexis Scott and Nicolette Northrup had two points apiece.

Eureka 50, 

McDermitt 40 

The two best teams in the 1A East all season met Saturday in Elko for the regional championship. 

The Vandals beat the Lady Bulldogs twice during the regular season and held off a late McDermitt rally in the fourth quarter to win the title 50-40.

In a low-scoring first quarter, McDermitt claimed the lead at 5-3 off  a layup and moments later, Scott converted a bucket to make the score 7-5. 

Eureka knocked down a late 3-pointer to grab a one-point advantage after eight minutes of play.

Following the slow start, the Lady Bulldogs found their groove on offense, as Northrup and Tom each knocked down 3-pointers to stay within two points of Eureka  at 15-13.

The Vandals reeled off the next five points to take its biggest lead of the first half at 20-13, only to see the Lady Bulldogs battle back and see Kiarra Crutcher score four points late in the first half, including  a layup as time expired to trail 24-21 at halftime.

Eureka knocked down a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the third quarter and shortly afterward Reign Crutcher went to the bench with four fouls with 7:04 left in the quarter. 

That allowed the Vandals to go on a 11-6 run to lead 35-27.

Just as it was the case in the third quarter, Eureka made a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter and after an intentional foul on McDermitt, the gap grew to 42-27 with 6:51 to play.

That is where the momentum changed for the better for the Lady Bulldogs. McDermitt poured on the defensive pressure, leading to a number of Eureka turnovers.

Reign Crutcher started a 10-0 run with a pair of free throws and after two free throws by Tom, the Lady Bulldogs made  3-pointers by Reign Crutcher and Tom off of turnovers to cut the margin to 42-37 with four minutes to play.

The Vandals stopped the run with a free throw with 2:52 to go and pushed the gap to 45-37 with 2:27 to play on a putback bucket, after a missed 3-pointer by McDermitt, 

Eureka extended the lead to 47-37. The deficit shrunk to 47-40 after a 3-pointer by Hinkey with 1:09 to go, but those were the final points for McDermitt. 

Eureka made three free throws in the final minute to hold on for the win.

Tom paced McDermitt with 13 points, Northrup and Kiarra Crutcher added seven apiece, Reign Crutcher six, Hinkey five and Scott two.

McDermitt begins play in the NIAA 1A State Championship on Thursday at 4:40 p.m. at North Valleys High School in Reno against Pahranagat Valley, the 1A Central champion.

Pyramid Lake plays Beaver Dam in the other quarterfinal in the top half of the bracket. 

Those two winners play at 9 a.m. at Lawlor Events Center on Friday at 9 a.m.

In the bottom of the bracket, Eureka plays Round Mountain and Green Valley Christian takes on Coleville. 

Those winners play at 12:20 p.m. on Friday at Lawlor. The championship is set for 10 a.m. on Saturday at Lawlor.