Submitted by Coach Pete Summerbell

The Mineral County High boys basketball team tipped off the season last week, finishing 3-2 at the Serpent Classic Tournament in Hawthorne.

On Thursday, the Serpents opened with a solid come from behind win against Battle Mountain, 59-47. The Serpents got off to a slow start and found themselves behind 31-22 at halftime, along with having foul problems.

The bench did a good job in keeping the game in reach as Brandon West and Andre Davis sat out most of the second quarter with three fouls each. In the third quarter, the Serpents played zone to conserve fouls and got to within two points, 42-40. The boys went back to man-to-man defense and went on a 14-2 run aided by Davis who hit four three-pointers. Taylen Wachsmuth led all scorers with 27 points and 19 rebounds. Davis added 19 points and Robert McFalls had nine points and nine rebounds.

In Friday’s early game, the MCHS crew downed the Pyramid Lakers, 63-23. The starters played only five minutes and left the game with a 24-2 lead. The bench kept the intensity up on the overwhelmed Lakers. Devon Davis was Mineral County’s leading scorer with 17 points followed by Victor Montoya with 14 points, including four three-pointers. A. Davis had 13 points.

The last game on Friday pitted an old 2-A rivalry against highly touted Lovelock. The Mustangs won the contest 58-51. The Lovelock crew, led by William Gattrell, poured in 12 three-pointers. Lovelock held a 33-22 lead at halftime, 24 of those 33 points were by eight threes. The Serpents won the second half 29-26, but the three’s were too much to overcome. William Gattrell, from Lovelock, led all scorers with 31 points. Wachsmuth poured in 23 points with 12 rebounds. McFalls had 12 points.

Saturday’s first match-up for the Serpents was against White Pine. The local boys came out on top with a 66-54 victory. The boys held a slim lead, 29-26 at halftime and pulled away with balance scoring. Wachsmuth had his third double-double with 22 points and 19 rebounds. McFalls had his first double-double with 20 points and ten rebounds along with five steals. A. Davis had six points and a team high of nine assists.

The last game of the classic was the match up against Yerington who looked very tough in the tournament. The first half belonged to the Serpents who controlled the tempo and led 31-26. The second started out the same, with the boys building a 10 point lead. The Lions put on their press to get the game up-tempo. The Serpents were unable to stay patient and started forcing passes which led to eight turnovers in a three and half minute span. Yerington was able to maintain their momentum as they pulled away, 60-54. The Serpents had 21 turnovers which was their undoing. Wachsmuth led all scorers again, another double-double, 30 points and 13 rebounds. A. Davis had eight points and six assists. McFalls had seven points along with seven rebounds. West had five points with seven rebounds.

The Serpents will travel to the Whittell Invitational next Thursday, Friday and Saturday. They again will face some high powered teams, beginning with 3-A Incline on Thursday at 8 p.m. Friday will be a match-up against 4-A North Valleys at 4 p.m. Saturday’s game will be at 4:30 p.m. against 3-A North Tahoe.

The Junior Varsity boys played four games in a tournament in Tonopah. They won all four games impressively over Tonopah, Round Mountain, Wells and Beatty.