The McDermitt High School girls basketball team gathers at center court prior to its regional championship game with Eureka at Elko High School on Saturday, Feb. 15.
After facing Pyramid Lake in the 1A State Championship in 2024, the McDermitt High School girls basketball team had the tough and tall task of facing the two-time reigning state champion in the quarterfinals of the 2025 championships this past Thursday at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas.
Pyramid Lake raced out to a quick start in the opening eight minutes of play and defeated McDermitt 71-31.
Pyramid Lake beat Eureka on Saturday to win its third straight 1A tile on Saturday afternoon at Cox Pavilion on the campus on UNLV.
The Lady Bulldogs, who finished the year at 21-5, graduates three seniors. McDermitt finished second in the 1A East at 11-1, with rival Eureka winning the league and regional championship.
Pyramid Lake netted the first 10 points of the contest in less than two minutes, when senior Vina Tom knocked down a 3-pointer.
Sadie Hinkey followed with two shots beyond the arc to close the gap to 15-9, when the Braves finished the first quarter on a 10-1 run to lead 25-10.
Senior Riata Palmer provided McDermitt’s first points of the second quarter at the 4:56 mark on a bank shot from the right side of the basket.
Kiarra Crutcher had the only other field goal of the quarter, as Pyramid Lake extended the advantage to 39-16 at the break.
Laeloni Tobey, also a senior collected the first two buckets of the second half for the Lady Bulldogs and Tom added her second 3-pointer of the night but the Lakers continued to pull away and 57-25 going into the final eight minutes of play.
In her final high school game, Tom had a team-high 12 points, with Hinkey and Tobey each scoring six points apiece. Palmer added five points, Crutcher two and Cierra Smart one.