The McDermitt girls enter the floor before the game.
If you look throughout the state of Nevada, you will find rivalries all over the place.
It’s no different here in northern and eastern Nevada, as the McDermitt High School girls basketball team met up once again with Eureka in the championship game of the 1A East on Saturday afternoon.
Over the last three years, the teams have played nine times, with the Vandals winning the regional title in 2023, while the Lady Bulldogs claimed the championship in 2024.
This season, the teams traded victories in the regular season, with each squad winning by eight points on their respective home floors.
In the championship game on Saturday at Elko High School, Eureka used a run at the end of the first quarter that ran into the second for a 49-34 win. McDermitt is now 21-5 on the season.
The win was important for the Vandals, who will play Smith Valley in the opening round of the state tournament.
The loss for McDermitt meant it will have to play two-time defending 1A state champion Pyramid Lake on Thursday at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas at 3:30 p.m.
McDermitt's Sadie Hinkey grabs a rebound during the 1A East Championship game on Saturday afternoon at Elko High School.
Eureka opened the contest on a 7-2 run, when Vina Tom and Kiarra Crutcher followed with baskets for McDermitt. Tom added a 3-pointer to close the gap to 12-9 but a shot at the buzzer by Eureka gave the Vandals a 17-11 advantage after eight minutes of play.
Eureka slowed the pace from there, throwing over the top of the McDermitt zone defense.
That resulted in a pair of 3-pointers from the 1A East Player of the Year in Megan Johnson. That gave the Vandals a 23-11 lead, when Riata Palmer ended the run three minutes into the quarter on a put back shot.
Crutcher had the only other field goal of the quarter for McDermitt, as Eureka nailed another shot the halftime buzzer to go in front 31-16.
Crutcher opened the second half with a 3-pointer for the Lady Bulldogs and Sadie Hinkey added a pair of buckets but the Vandals seemed to have answer for every Bulldog basket.
A 3-pointer by Hinkey with 3:14 to play kept McDermitt within striking distance but that was the only field goal of the quarter for the Lady Bulldogs.
Tom finished with a team-high 13 points, Crutcher added nine, Hinkey eight and Palmer four.
McDermitt's Vina Tom splits the Eureka defense on her way to the basket.
McDermitt 72, Owyhee 52
In the semifinals on Friday night, McDermitt cruised to a 72-52 win over Owyhee, which was its fourth win over the Braves this year.
The Lady Bulldogs used three 3-pointers from Hinkey and eight more points from Crutcher in the first eight minutes of play to build a 23-11 advantage.
Hinkey added a fourth 3-pointer in the second quarter and Tom hit from long distance to push the lead to 32-16 at halftime.
The advantage grew to over 20 points in the second half and McDermitt cruised to the end.
Hinkey led the way with 18 points, with Crutcher and Tom each scoring 14. Laeloni Tobey scored eight points, Palmer six, Brianna Sherburn five, Alexis Scott four and Ebony Crutcher one.