Vaqueros face Hug to open Region Tournament

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

The Fernley High School boys basketball team has put itself in a position with a clear path to the State Tournament. Now the Vaqueros just have to navigate it smoothly.

The Vaqueros finished the regular season with a 61-50 win in Dayton last Saturday, and they enter this week’s Northern 3A Region Tournament in Winnemucca as the No. 2 seed from the East Division of the Northern 3A, with a 7-3 league record. Two wins in the tournament will advance them to the championship game, and to the State Tournament next week in Las Vegas.

To get there, the Vaqueros will have to beat two teams they’ve already beaten this season. First up is Hug, at 1 p.m. Thursday in the regional quarterfinals at the Winnemucca Events Center. Hug is the No. 3 seed from the West Division with a 5-5 record, and the Vaqueros beat them 63-45 on Dec. 7. With a win in the first game, the Vaqueros would face either Wooster, the West No. 1 seed, or Fallon, the East No. 4 seed, at 2:45 p.m. Friday. The Vaqueros beat Wooster 59-44 on Dec. 11, and they’ve beaten Fallon three times this season.

The championship game is at 4:15 p.m. Saturday, and the two teams that reach the championship game qualify for the State Tournament.

“Yes, I like our chances,” coach Derek Miller said. “We need to execute our game plan and do the little things that can add up to wins or losses come tournament time.”

The Vaqueros ended the regular season on a good note with their win at Dayton.

Jett Caudle led the team with 16 points and five assists, while both Ryan Gamsby and Carson Kingston scored 15, while Jake Cummins pulled down 10 rebounds.

“I was pleased with our efforts today,” Miller said. “Dayton is a good team and a hard place to go get a road win. We came out of there healthy and now we need to focus on the Zone tournament.”