By Robert Perea
Unlike last season’s opener, the Fernley Vaqueros finished what they started last Saturday afternoon in Reno.
Behind a nine-man rotation that kept them fresh into the fourth quarter, the Vaqueros opened the season with a 64-57 win at Reno.
A year ago, the Vaqueros faded after leading at halftime against the Huskies in the season opener. This time, they hit the throttle.
After neither team had led by more than four points through the first 13 minutes of the game, the Vaqueros closed the second quarter with a 9-2 run to take a 36-28 halftime lead. They opened the second half with another 9-2 run, with all nine points coming consecutively after Reno hit the first basket of the half. That put Fernley up 45-30, and they kept going from there, eventually leading by as much as 59-40 with 5:21 left in the game.
A late surge by Reno got the Huskies back within the final margin of seven.
Bodie Parsons helped get the Vaqueros to a strong start, scoring 10 points in the first quarter and finishing with 18. He also hit all eight of his free throws, including six in the first quarter.
“The guy fixes his wrist and now he can't miss free throws,” coach Cade Knutson said. “And you know, he's just such a physical presence inside and when you combine that with the ability to make free throws, you can't just bail them out and foul him. If he's going to make free throws, he's kind of a nightmare in there.”
Sheldon Jacobson led the Vaqueros with 23 points, Bryce Stephens added 14 and Leland Ketelaar scored 8 points. Andrew Peterson led the Vaqueros with 9 rebounds.
Knutson said the difference between this year’s matchup with Reno and last year was the Vaqueros’ depth.
“Last year, we were a little bit tighter on our rotation. We got tired by the end of it,” he said. “And this year, being able to put nine guys through a rotation and just be fresher.”
Knutson said the Reno’s run at the end happened partly because the Vaqueros didn’t handle it well when Reno went to a 1-3-1 defense.
"We just, for whatever reason, we were shaky sort of at the end, but that was only the last about two minutes where we were shaky,” he said. “I mean, for the most part, pretty darn solid, but nine guys that know what's expected of them, you know, offensively and defensively.”
The Vaqueros were scheduled to play Debbie Smith CTE Academy Tuesday night before heading down to the Legacy Classic in Las Vegas starting Thursday. That tournament includes Southern 4A and 5A powers like Legacy, Sierra Vista, Mojave and Rancho.
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