Boys basketball: Selma pulls away in second to beat Vaqueros

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

The basket at the west end of the Brickhouse, the Sparks High School gymnasium, wasn’t very kind to the Fernley Vaqueros in the first half. The basket at the east end was downright hostile in the second half.

Fernley struggled offensively as Selma steadily pulled away in the second half to turn a close game into a 64-43 win over Fernley Wednesday night in the first round of the Rail City Classic at Sparks.

The Vaqueros managed double figures in just one quarter, the second, which allowed them to stay within hailing distance at the half, 29-25.

But Fernley scored just nine points each in the third and fourth quarters, managing just eight field goals in the second half.

“I was happy with the first half, I thought we played pretty well,” coach Derek Miller said. “We missed some looks we usually get, and that’s why we’re in this tournament, to get some of those things worked out before we get back in league.”

The Vaqueros played without senior captain Zach Burns, who injured his ankle in last Thursday’s game against Yerington, and will miss all four games of this week’s tournament.

Miller said Burns absence is a chance for other players to step up and claim bigger roles, and he said it could be a blessing in disguise for the team if it helps speed the development of some of the team’s younger players.

Rei Robinett led the Vaqueros with 19 points, 10 of them in the second quarter, but nobody else reached double figures. Zac Terra and Dario Ceresola each scored six points.

Selma extended its lead to double figures late in the third quarter and Fernley was unable to put a run together.

“Thought better defensively than the last (game), but we just struggled at the offensive end,” Miller said.

The Vaqueros are back in action at 5 p.m. Thursday against Antioch (Calif.).