The Battle Mountain High School boys basketball team split a pair of games in its return to the floor after Christmas break, beating Wells 64-41 on Tuesday, Jan. 4, and losing to Incline 71-48 on Saturday afternoon in Battle Mountain. In the non-conference win at Wells, Battle Mountain had three players score in double figures. Dennis Wahl led the way with 16 points, Jr Vazquez and Terrance Fetterly added 10 points apiece. Aydan Samuelson netted eight points, Marcos Jimenez six, Jonathan Narramore five, Evan Gonzalez and Boden Machado three each and Sage Holt one.
The Battle Mountain High School girls basketball started the new year with a split of two games at home against Wells and Incline. Battle Mountain hosted Wells on Tuesday, Jan. 4, and rallied from a 17-4 deficit to beat the Leopards 38-30. The Lady Longhorns took on Incline on Saturday afternoon and suffered a 58-23 loss to the Highlanders to drop to 0-1 in the Northern 2A and 8-4 overall.
Due to COVID-19-related concerns within the Nevada women’s basketball program, the Wolf Pack’s games against Boise State on Thursday, Jan. 6, and at Air Force on Sunday, Jan. 9 were postponed.
A handful of local high school basketball games were postponed. The Lowry High School JV and girls basketball teams were set to play in Truckee on Thursday but new Covid restrictions have Truckee schools on a pause.
Kaleb Eleby threw two touchdowns and ran for another and Western Michigan recorded its second bowl victory in program history, rolling past Nevada 52-24 in the Quick Lane Bowl on Monday, Dec. 27. Sean Tyler rushed for 146 yards on 14 carries and returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown for Western Michigan (8-5). Jaxson Kincaide, a Nevada transfer, rushed for 105 yards on 17 carries and scored two touchdowns.
Nevada rode a big second-half surge to a Mountain West-opening 79-70 victory over New Mexico Saturday night at Lawlor Events Center. The Wolf Pack (7-5, 1-0 MW) got double-doubles from three players Saturday.
The Sierra Nevada Classic, one of the biggest wrestling tournaments in the state was canceled last week due to the winter storm that hit the area and closed US 50 and Interstate 80 for days.
Matt Bradley had 17 points and seven rebounds and Keshad Johnson recorded 10 points and 11 rebounds to carry San Diego State to a 62-55 win over UNLV on Saturday in a Mountain West Conference opener. San Diego State (9-3, 1-0) earned its fourth consecutive victory. Chad Baker added 11 points. Nathan Mensah had 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.
Turning more bowls into playoff games would give more players a worthy reward for risking millions in potential future earnings to participate in the postseason. Players opting out of bowl games became the underlying theme of New Year’s Day in college football, which was a shame because the games themselves were entertaining — even with some missing All-Americans.
After taking a couple weeks off with the Christmas break, the Battle Mountain High School boys and girls basketball teams and wrestling team returns to action this week.
If a team is unavailable to play in College Football Playoff semifinals on New Year’s Eve because of COVID-19 issues, the game will be forfeited and the available team will advance to the championship. With COVID-19 cases spiking across the country due to the omicron variant, the CFP announced Wednesday contingency plans for the semifinals and national championship game, which is scheduled for Jan. 10 in Indianapolis but could be delayed as much as four days. No. 1 Alabama is scheduled to face No. 4 Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl in one Dec. 31 semifinal and No. 2 Michigan is set to play No. 3 Georgia in the Orange Bowl in the nightcap of the CFP doubleheader.
Top-ranked Alabama arrived Sunday in North Texas without offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien or offensive line coach Doug Marrone, but coach Nick Saban expected both assistants to make it for the playoff semifinal game at the Cotton Bowl.
The University of Nevada softball team has released its 2022 spring schedule, head coach Linda Garza announced last week. Nevada’s 52 game slate includes five away tournaments and 24 conference games in the season. The Pack will have 14 home games, including two home non-conference doubleheader games, and 12 away games in the conference schedule. Nevada will face one Power 5 opponent and two teams that were in NCAA postseason tournaments last season, UCLA and conference opponent Fresno State.
Head coach Jay Norvell isn’t the only member of the 2021 Nevada Wolf Pack football team who didn’t truly believe that home means Nevada. Nearly two dozen players, coaches and recruits, who were on the Wolf Pack roster or verbally committed to the school, all chose to be Rocky Mountain high with Norvell’s Colorado State Rams.