Pershing sophomore Khloe Montes (2) defends against the Dayton Dust Devils last Friday at PCHS
A couple of days after Christmas, the Pershing County High School girls basketball team beat the visiting Dayton Dust Devils 52-20 in a non-conference match-up.
The bleachers were lighter than usual with the high school on winter break until Jan. 6.
Nonetheless, the Mustangs showed off their defensive and offensive chops.
Not only did they score above 50 points for the first time since preseason. They effectively squashed their opponent's offense.
Pershing sophomore Arya Garland defends a Dayton player during its home game on Dec. 27.
"We changed up the starting lineup and we think it sparked the girls a little. Our defense sparked our offense and that's exactly how we want to play. It was nice to put points up on the board," coach Lee Houston said.
With the win, Pershing County improved their record to 8-2 overall and 4-1 in the Northern 2A.
Its only league loss so far is against Battle Mountain who they'll face again in Longhorn country on Jan. 17.
Now it's back to league play. On Friday, Pershing County travels to Yerington to play the Lions at 6 p.m.
The Mustangs will be back on their home court the next day at 2 p.m. to face North Tahoe.
The Mustangs will have their work cut out for them in both games. Yerington (4-0) and North Tahoe (3-0) are the top two teams in the 2A.
Pershing County junior Riley Harvey (23) gets past the Dust Devils to score for the Mustangs.
Pershing County is third so the games could be close.
North Tahoe won back-to-back league championships for the past two years and squared off against Needles at the Lawlor Events Center last year, walking off as state runners up.
Pershing County made it to the semifinals and lost to Needles 58-31.
North Tahoe owes a lot of their success to senior Laura Couwenhoven. She's currently leading the 2A in points per game at 12.8.
Pershing County is back home on Tuesday, Jan. 7, to play Coral Academy of Reno at 6 p.m.
However, the Mustangs are not slouches when it comes to scoring. Kyra Cerini led against Dayton with 15 points.
Khloe Montes had 10 points. Aaliyah Allen added nine points and 13 rebounds. Riley Harvey had six points and 10 rebounds.
"We hope this nonconference win against Dayton sparks confidence heading into the meat of our conference schedule," Houston said.
The Mustangs love nothing more than playing in a gym packed with fans. They invite Lovelock to start off 2025 by cheering them to victory.