Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter
After opening the season 9-0, with four wins against Southern 5A teams and the rest against 4A opponents, the Fernley High School girls will begin to see where they stack up in the 3A.
The Vaqueros went 4-0 in the Silverado Showdown in Las Vegas Nov. 24-25, then won four more times in the Winter Tip Off Tournament, at Reno and Spanish Springs.
They made their home debut Dec. 5 with a 49-41 win over Damonte Ranch.
It’s been a mostly dominant start for a team that returns most of the players who went undefeated in the Northern 3A, won the region tournament and reached the 3A State Championship game last season.
Although the season-opening Silverado Showdown pitted the Vaqueros against 4A and 5A foes, coach Ralph Dunn said he was hoping the competition would have been better. Last year the Vaqueros suffered their only two losses of the regular season in that tournament, but this year the Vaqueros beat Desert Oasis 65-21, Green Valley 62-19, Shadow Ridge 63-45 and Legacy 62-31.
Dunn said the team looked good but made some expected early-season mistakes.
“Both offensively and defensively we did well,” he said. “We were pretty aggressive on both ends of the court and would like that to be our fuel and energy this year.”
The following week, he Vaqueros started off in the Winter Tip Off by beating last year’s Northern 4A champions, Bishop Manogue, 52-43. Then they avenged one of last season’s early losses with a 58-40 win over Faith Lutheran, sped past Douglas 62-38 and capped the tournament with a 67-55 win over Spanish Springs.
“The Manogue game was huge. It had a lot of people at that game, very entertaining and great game to watch,” Dunn said. “The Spanish springs game we were behind at halftime and got things going the second half.
The Vaqueros were scheduled to plat at Wooster Friday, then they go to North Valleys next Friday to face what is expected to be one of their top Northern 3A challengers.
“Our goal this year is to bring all the pressure and be very aggressive, changing up defenses and running the floor,” Dunn said.
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