Fernley boys split first league games

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

The Fernley High School boys basketball team split its first two league games of the season, losing to Elko 56-38 last Friday, then bouncing back to beat Spring Creek 74-67 Saturday afternoon.

Elko used a 15-0 run bridging the first and second quarters to take control of Friday’s game.

A basket by Russ Ortiz had the Vaqueros within 8-7 with 2:55 left in the first quarter, but the next time Fernley scored, on two free throws by Zach Burns with 5:23 left in t he second quarter, Elko had scored 15 straight points to lead 23-7.

Elko pushed its lead to 21 several times in the third quarter. Fernley scored 11 straight points at the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters to get within 45-35, before Elko pulled away again.

“We need to get better,” coach Derek Miller said. “We have to be able to execute both on offense and defense for four quarters. I didn’t think we started executing until the fourth quarter when we cut a big lead to 8 points.”

Burns led Fernley with 14 points, while Ortiz scored 8 and Drew Miller added 7.

Saturday the Vaqueros found the range offensively, but struggled to stop the Spartans.

Fernley led 15-10 after a quarter and 36-28 at the half, pushing the lead to double digits in the third quarter, but Spring Creek stayed within hailing distance until the final minute.

“Happy about our offensive effort today. I am not happy with giving up 67 points,” Miller said. “We struggled from the foul line and missed a lot of layups as well.”

Rei Robinett led the Vaqueros with 20 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead four players in double figures. Drew Miller scored 14 points, Burns had 13 and Ortiz finished with 11.

“We need to get a lot better in the coming weeks, especially on the defensive side,” Miller said. “I am happy we won our first league game and look forward to a good week of practice.”

The Vaqueros play just once this week, at Sparks Saturday at 2:30 p.m.