Fallon’s Karlie Simper (23) maintains control of the ball in the first half against Fernley’s Irene Brown (4) and Kensey Kreller (1).
Photo by Steve Ranson.
It took a half of basketball for the engine to warm up, but once the warning light flickered and disappeared during Friday night’s third quarter, the Northern 3A league-leading Greenwave girls basketball team powered its way over Fernley, 51-29, in a crucial matchup.
With a two-game sweep against Lyon County schools, Fallon improved to 9-1 in the 3A and 20-6 overall while Fernley finished in second place at 8-2 and 19-6 overall.
Earlier this week, Fallon, the No. 1 seed, played Wooster, the fourth-seed team in the West. Results are on LVN’s webpage.
“Tonight’s game was a culmination of what we've been building on for the last couple of weeks,” said Fallon coach Kevin Wickware. “We had to believe in ourselves and gain that confidence. I think it showed out pretty good tonight.”
Fallon jumped out in front of Fernley with an 18-9 first period on the Vaqueros’ senior night, but a power surge temporarily dimmed the Wave in the following quarter as the hosts cut the lead by a point to trail at halftime, 21-15.
The Wave relied on a pair of treys from Vernita Fillmore, who also drove for a layup, and Amillya Bishop. Three other players — Raegan Johnson, Janessa Bettencourt and Kortnie Simper — scored a basket.
Fernley turned on a tenacious defense in the second quarter causing Fallon to turn the ball over five times within a 2-minute span. Once Fallon settled down, the Wave’s defense repaid the favor causing two Fernley turnovers and several missed shots.
Bishop connected on a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Fallon a 23-12 lead, but the Fallon defense fouled Taylor Tollestrup on her turnaround jumper. Her two free throws narrowed Fallon's lead to six points, 21-14, with 1:46 remaining before halftime.
Both teams were, to put it mildly, as cold as ice down the stretch.
Fernley missed four free throws in a 15-second stretch, and Fallon failed to connect on two free throws after Tollestrup fouled Johnson.
Neither team could connect in the final minute.
Both teams cooled on their shooting in the third quarter with the Wave outscoring Fernley 11-10.
Johnson gave Fallon a seven-point lead, 27-20, after sinking a running layup, After Fernley turned the ball over, Fallon responded with a 3-pointer by Kortnie Simper.
Fallon sunk a pair of free throws to take a 32-20 lead, but the Vaqueros scored the quarter’s final five points on two free throws from Irene Brown and Tollestrup’s three-point play.
It took time for the defense to click, but Fallon frustrated the Vaqueros in a 19-4 fourth quarter.
“We just need to calm our nerves. It was senior night for Fernley. First-place game,” Wickware said. “We knew there would be jitters going on tonight.”
The Wave played a solid quarter on both ends of the ball. Simper doubled her scoring output with six points to finish the game with 12, and her sister Karlie scored five points including a trey in the third quarter, and a field goal and free throw in the fourth.
Between the two sisters, Kortnie scored 12 points, and Karlie added 10. Fillmore and Bishop added 9 and 8, respectively, Johnson and Bettencourt each scored six points.
Fallon continued to pad its lead against Fernley despite sloppy ball handling from both teams. The Greenwave’s defense frustrated the Vaqueros and the Wave outscored Fernley 9-2 during the final 3:08.
“It’s pretty hard to play a full game against us because it’s nonstop,” Wickware said about Fallon’s pressure defense. “We wanted to get out and run. We’re fortunate we have a deep bench where we can do that so that happens later in the game where we can open up the game in the fourth quarter.”
Tollestrup and Laura Rosales each scored 7 points for Fernley.