After losing to Fallon in lopsided games three times last year, including in the Northern 3A Region Championship game, the Fernley High School girls basketball team was encouraged when they narrowly lost to the Greenwave on Jan. 6.
Last Wednesday, they were downright thrilled to come away with a 68-56 win in Fallon.
Taylor Tollestrup scored 25 points and Irene Brown had her season high of 23 as the Vaqueros had an answer for every Fallon challenge in the second half.
“We came out strong and stayed focused the whole game,” coach Ralph Dunn said.
The teams took turns making runs in the first half. Fallon flipped a 7-2 Fernley lead to a 16-10 Fallon advantage. Fernley went on an extended run to take a 28-21 lead with 2:00 left in the second quarter on a 3-pointer by Brown, before Fallon got back within 30-27 at the half.
After Fallon scored the first points of the third quarter, Tollestrup scored three consecutive baskets to give Fernley a 36-29 lead. Fallon got back within 38-36, but Brown hit two free throws and a 3-pointer and Tollestrup made two shots in a 9-0 run that pushed the lead to 47-36.
The closest Fallon got after that was 51-45, but Tollestrup scored twice and Justice Martell-Artiaga added a basket and the Vaqueros controlled the rest of the game.
“We had way less turnovers from the first game and free throw shooting was a big improvement,” Dunn said. “Irene had an awesome game as well as Taylor and our defense stepped it up a notch.”
A dominant third quarter Saturday keyed the Vaqueros’ 53-34 win at Lowry. Fernley led 26-16 at halftime, but the Vaqueros scored the first 8 points of the third quarter, then Zaelynn Wasson made consecutive 3-pointers to put Fernley up 40-17.
Tollestrup scored 21 points and Wasson added 15.
“Lowry competed pretty well the first half, and in the second half we pretty much dominated both ends of the court,” coach Ralph Dunn said.
The win moved the Vaqueros to 6-1 in the Northern 3A East, tied with Fallon for first place, and 20-3 overall.
“I congratulated the girls after the game giving the program another 20 win season, making it four years in a row with 20-plus wins,” Dunn said.
The Vaqueros added another to that total with a 55-12 win at Wooster in a nonleague Northern 3A crossover Monday night and are scheduled to host Elko at 6 p.m. Friday and Spring Creek at 1 p.m. Saturday as they try to keep pace with Fallon at the top of the league standings.
“We’re coming down the home stretch at the end of the season and still need to stay focused,” Dunn said. “We have Elko coming to our house and they darn near pulled it off at their gym, so we need to be prepared.”
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