Taylynn Maynez, Oasis Academy’s only senior, shoots over Battle Mountain’s Paitynn Johns during the Northern 2A quarterfinals in Lovelock.
Photo by Thomas Ranson.
LOVELOCK – Playing in its first postseason game, the Oasis Academy girls basketball team couldn't overcome a pair of scoring droughts as Battle Mountain, the 2A North's No. 3 seed, defeated the sixth-seeded Bighorns, 47-33, in Thursday’s quarterfinal Pershing County High School.
“The season may have ended sooner than we would have liked, but I am still so proud of this team and everything they have accomplished this year,” Oasis coach Amanda Larsen said. “I can't help but to get excited looking at the future of the Oasis girls basketball program. We may be one of the smallest and youngest, but the potential of our team and teams to come is something you can't put a price on.”
Junior Grace Laca led the team with 12 points and Taylynn Maynez, the team's lone senior, had 11.
Oasis Academy drew blood first, shocking the Lander County school with an 8-0 run to open the game.
Laca started with a long two-point basket before sophomore Kaylee Craig’s steal 20 seconds later gave Oasis a quick two-possession lead. Craig hit a 3-pointer with 6 minutes, 21 seconds left in the quarter to cap off 8-0 lead.
But the Longhorns slowly chipped away before going on a 7-0 and an 8-0 run to turn the deficit into a double-digit lead in the second half.
A free throw by sophomore Heaven Martinez stopped the run and sophomore Paitynn Johns took over from there. She knocked down two 3-pointers and added another bucket to cut the Bighorns’ lead to 13-12 after eight minutes.
Maynez’s free throw and long 2 near the top of the perimeter kept Oasis in front.
Freshman Yadira Vazquez gave Battle Mountain its first lead at 14-13 on a putback and again 16-15 with another bucket. Johns added a pair of baskets and junior Noel Hill collected her first points.
The Longhorns led by as many as five (23-18) before Maynez hit a pair of free throws to end a 7-0 run with 40 seconds left in the half as the Bighorns trailed 23-20 at halftime.
Oasis got within a point a couple times (26-25 and 28-27) when Laca hit a 3-pointer from the left side and Maynez scored with 3:52 left in the third quarter. Following two more 3-pointers from Johns, Battle Mountain went on another run (8-0) to close out the quarter ahead 36-27.
Battle Mountain opened a double-digit advantage in the fourth quarter and never looked back, outscoring the Churchill County school, 11-5.
Laca scored all five points, including hitting a 3-pointer with a minute left in the game.
Johnson finished with a game-high 20 points, including four 3-pointers to go with seven rebounds, four steals, two blocks and two assists. Vazquez added eight points and eight rebounds and Hill had seven points, two rebounds, two steals and an assist. Sophomore Kamilia Farias netted six points and eight rebounds and Martinez had a team-high 14 rebounds to go with five points.