Battle Mountain’s Yadira Vaquez fight for a rebound against Oasis Academy in the opening round of the Northern 2A Regional Tournament in Lovelock on Thursday,
Even though it’s been a wild ride for the Battle Mountain High School girls basketball team, the young squad of mostly freshmen and sophomores still had a chance of qualifying for the state tournament in Elko.
Battle Mountain entered last weekend’s Northern 2A Regional Championships in Lovelock as the No. 3 seed against Oasis Academy of Fallon.
After a slow start, the Lady Longhorns pulled away in the second half for a 47-33 win.
That victory set up a semifinal showdown on Friday afternoon, with a showdown with North Tahoe and a trip to Las Vegas on the line.
The Lakers were the top seed for much of the year but struggled down the stretch. The Lady Longhorns beat the Lakers in the final week of the regular season in Battle Mountain.
Battle Mountain could not make it two in a row, as North Tahoe advanced to the regional championship game with a 45-31 win. The Lady Longhorns finished the year at 20-6 overall. The lone senior is Lindsey Bleak.
Battle Mountain’s Heaven Martinez garbs control of a loose ball.
BMHS 47, Oasis Academy 33
Oasis Academy came out and threw the first blows with a quick 8-0 run just two minutes into the contest. A free throw by Heavan Martinez stopped the run and sophomore Paitynn Johnson took over from there.
She knocked down two 3-pointers and added another bucket to cut the Bighorns’ lead to 13-12 after eight minutes of play.
Freshman Yadira Vazquez gave Battle Mountain its first lead at 14-13 on a put back basket and against 16-15 with another bucket. Johns added pair of baskets and Noel Hill collected her first points, as the Lady Longhorns led 23-20 at halftime.
Following two more 3-pointers from Johns, Battle Mountain opened up a double-digit advantage in the fourth quarter and never looked back.
Johns connected on four 3-pointers for a game-high 20 points to go with seven rebounds, four steals, two blocks and two assists.
Vazquez added eight points and eight rebounds and Hill had seven points, two rebounds, two steals and an assist.
Kamilia Farias netted six points and eight rebounds and Martinez had a team-high 14 rebounds to go with five points.
North Tahoe 45, BMHS 31
In the semifinals on Friday afternoon, the contest was close throughout, with North Tahoe in front 20-15 at halftime. The score didn’t waiver from there, as Battle Mountain was within four points at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Lady Longhorns tied the game in the fourth quarter, when the Lakers took advantage of turnovers and missed shots by Battle Mountain
Hill paced the Lady Longhorns with 15 points and Bleak in her final game added seven points, including six of those in the final eight minutes.
“They had a great year and they are looking forward to next year,” said BMHS coach Paul Tremayne.