Basketball: Fallon opens its 3A East schedule

The 3A East season kicks off for both Fallon basketball teams when they travel to Elko County this weekend.

Both the girls and boys teams competed in holiday tournaments last week when the Lady Wave finished 2-2 in Las Vegas while the boys team took fourth in the Nelson Electric Rail City Classic after going 2-2 with both losses to 3A East foes.

Fallon travels to Elko on Friday followed by Spring Creek on Saturday. Both teams return home on Jan. 10 to host Lowry and then Wooster the following day.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Chelle Dalager’s boys team won its first two games in last week’s Sparks tournament. Fallon defeated Reed on a late three-point play by Trevor Hyde, before falling to Dayton by six and Lowry by three in the third-place game on Saturday.

With the Greenwave heading to Elko and Spring Creek this weekend, Dalager said she’s still working on the best combinations with her team. Despite the late stumble in Sparks, which was nearly recovered when Fallon almost came back from a 20-plus-point deficit against Lowry, Dalager is pleased where the team is at but it can be better.

“I actually think we're further along than I thought we would be at this point. They get better at certain things every game, which is good,” Dalager said. “I'm still trying to figure out the perfect combination because I don't know what that is. We have more weapons off the bench than we've had in a few years as far as rotation. Obviously, we're big and we haven't been that big in a long time. We've got some explosive guards with some good shooting. I think we have all the pieces. I think it's really just about mindset and what they want to accomplish is really where we’re at.”

While Dalager likes going out of the area for tournaments during the holiday break, last week’s four-game split worked in her favor as it shed light on what Fallon needs to focus on when it resumes 3A play, including facing Lowry and Dayton when it counts in the league standings.

Dalager said she wants to use the bench and give players more experience, similar to the 2018-2019 state title team when three starters fouled out in the overtime win over Lowry in the regional semifinal. That team, she said, was selfless and would rack up more than 20 assists per game because the players understood the mission.

“And so when it came down to it, they were ready to go and they knew their roles and they did their job,” Dalager said of her 2019 bench.

She feels this year’s squad can learn to play like her state championship teams.

“And that's the team that I'm searching for again, that team that cares about each other so much,” she said. “I think we have all those pieces, but we just don't have the same trust that the 2019 team did. They're still really unsure, and they still want to be the guy instead of making somebody else look good. And so we preach that every day and point it out in game film and show them where they missed an open look from the way up and things like that. They're just going to have to grow throughout the season and understand how we're going to be successful.”

It doesn’t get easy when Fallon begins the 3A East schedule with a trip to Elko, which is accustomed to state tournament appearances. Along with Elko and Spring Creek, Dalager said all six teams, including Fernley, in the division are capable of beating one another.

“It’ll be a tough conference for sure. All six of our teams are going to be really tough,” Dalager said. “Our games every night are going to be competitive and if we don’t bring our A game, we’re going to end up on the losing end.”

GIRLS BASKETBALL

For Kevin Wickware’s girls team, which has been missing its leading scorer from last year due to an injury, resilience has been the theme so far this winter.

Aside from missing their top scorer, junior Jada Anastasio, Fallon also will miss junior Dylan Faught, who has been out since the opening-season tournament in Reno.

“We kind of had to re-identify ourselves and some of our players had to step up,” said Wickware, who took over the program in 2019. “We’re down two starters before we get to our third game (of the season). Our kids are very resilient. They fight back. They have that next-girl-up attitude.”

Wickware’s gone to his bench throughout the first month of the season, relying on the Simper sisters — junior Kylee and sophomores Kortnie and Karlie —  and senior Vernita Fillmore, who’s filled in for Anastasio at point guard. Seniors Brynee Nichols and Megan Johnson, juniors Leah Sorensen, Janessa Bettencourt and Lea Williams; sophomore Reagan Johnson and freshman Amillya Bishop have played in nearly every game, while sophomore Kadence Wiessmer has played in a handful, including wins over Truckee and Sparks.

“And we've had some of our girls fill those voids that we needed,” Wickware said. “We still work extremely hard. We have shown in many games some resiliency.”

On the court, Fallon was down early against North Valleys last month before losing by a couple of possessions to the reigning 3A West champ. Although the game ended in a loss, Wickware has been pleased with the team’s progress heading into this weekend’s games against Elko and Spring Creek.

“I've been impressed with what we've done based on losing Jada and Dylan,” Wickare added. “It's been really good to see some of our girls stepping up.”

Things to work on include limiting the turnovers and rebounding, but Wickware said the team’s balance of experience returning from last year’s playoff team has helped during the first part of this season. As Fallon jumps into 3A East action, which has seen the last three state championships decided by teams in the division (Lowry vs. Spring Creek in 2022, and Lowry vs. Fernley in 2023 and 2024), Wickware expects another strong outing from the division.

“Fernley returned a lot. Lowry obviously has (Nevada commit Britain) Backus with them. Elko has been playing really well,” Wickware said. “It’s always a tough league and that’s what’s fun about our league is that you have to be prepared for each game throughout our entire season.”