Vaquero basketball teams begin quest for regional titles

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

After both finishing unbeaten in the Northern 3A regular season, the Fernley High School boys and girls basketball teams are each one win away from qualifying for the State Tournament, and two away from winning the regional championship.

Both teams had byes in Thursday’s first round of the tournament, and begin play tonight. The boys will take the court first, at 4:40 p.m. against Lowry, which beat Fallon Thursday afternoon, 64-57. The girls team will follow at 6:20 p.m., taking on Elko, which beat Spring Creek 42-26.

The Fernley boys beat Lowry three times during the regular season, first in a nonleague game at the Rail City Classic on Dec. 28, 63-36. In league play, they beat the Buckaroos 74-47 in Fernley Jan. 14 and 59-56 in Winnemucca on Feb. 4.

The girls beat Elko 63-51 in Elko on Jan. 7 and 56-49 in Fernley on Jan. 28.

Both teams finished their unbeaten league seasons with easy romps past Dayton last week.

The girls beat Dayton 58-23. The Vaqueros had complete control of the game throughout, jumping to a 19-4 lead in the first quarter and leading 32-9 at the half. Jasmyne Torres led the Vaqueros with 14 points, and Tia Otuafi added 12, but 11 different players scored for Fernley, including all five seniors, who each started the game on Senior Day.

“What an atmosphere for the girls to play in, been that way all year,” coach Ralph Dunn said. “Have to really thank the community for all the support.”

The boys team beat Dayton 69-25, with a dominant stretch in the middle of the game.

After leading 13-11 early in the second quarter, the Vaqueros went on a 22-0 run. With a 38-14 halftime lead, Fernley outscored Dayton 22-0 in the third quarter, encompassing a 47-3 run. During one part of that stretch, the Vaqueros had nine steals in a span of 12 possessions.

Jett Caudle, who volunteered to come off the bench so his fellow five seniors could each start, led the Vaqueros with 18 points, while Jake Cumming added 13.