At 6-foot-1, with long arms and the agility of someone much shorter, Fernley’s Taylor Tollestrup moves with the kind of length and athleticism that nobody else in the Northern 3A East, and few teams anywhere else, can match up with.
Only Damonte Ranch, one of the three teams to beat the Vaqueros this season, has held Tollestrup to fewer than 12 points this season. With an average of 19.7 points per game, Tollestrup ranks 11th in Nevada girls basketball amongst all classes, and second in the 3A, behind Ivy Williams of North Valleys, who is second in the state with 25.9 points per game.
With 11.2 rebounds, 4.6 steals, 2.6 blocks and 2.1 assists per game, Tollestrup is much more than a scorer.
But as a scorer, she’s now the best in Fernley High School history.
During last Saturday’s game against Bishop Manogue, Tollestrup passed Jamie Wagner to become the school’s all-time leading scorer.
Wagner graduated in 1999 with 1,525 points. She later played basketball at Lassen College and Cal-State Fullerton.
Tollestrup enters this week with 1,532 points after scoring 25 points in a 61-28 win over Dayton Friday night and 19 more in Saturday’s 68-42 loss to Bishop Manogue.
“I was really happy for Taylor becoming the all-time scoring leader for FHS, boy or girl,” coach Ralph Dunn said. “It’s something she deserves and I’m proud to have that memory as part of my coaching career.”
Tollestrup’s versatility was on full display against Dayton. She made 11-of-14 shot attempts for her 25 points, and had nine rebounds, two assists, four steals, three blocks and hit a shot from halfcourt to beat the buzzer at the end of the second quarter.
After the game was tied 6-6, the Vaqueros scored 14 consecutive points. In another stretch, to close the first half and open the second, they scored 13 straight, with Tollestrup scoring 11 of the 17 points in those two runs.
“We just overpowered them in every phase,” Dunn said. “We worked on our defense and transition game and got everyone minutes in the game.”
Saturday against Manogue, the Vaqueros played nip and tuck with the Miners until the last 12 minutes of the game, when the Miners outscored them 34-12.
It was a game of runs in the first two-and-a-half quarters. Manogue opened the game with an 8-0 lead, but the Vaqueros stormed back to go ahead 9-8, then built their own 17-9 lead.
Back came Manogue to regain the lead at 20-19, then the teams traded baskets until the Miners led 34-32. After that, all the runs were by the Miners.
“I thought we played pretty well the first half,” Dunn said. “We had some turnovers that cost us some opportunities on the offensive end, but again I thought our defense stepped up. But hats off to Manogue. I thought they shot really well and we just again had too many turnovers.”
This week the Vaqueros hit the road twice to start the second half of league play. It will be their final two road games of the season, Wednesday at Fallon and at 1 p.m. Saturday in Lowry.
“Now the second half of the season begins and start positioning ourselves for regionals,” Dunn said.
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