Fernley girls open season with four wins
By Robert Perea
The Fernley High School girls basketball team opened its season with four wins last weekend in the Basic Tip Off Classic in Henderson.
The Vaqueros opened the tournament by beating Arbor View 68-44 and SLAM Academy 57-49 on Friday, then on Saturday they beat White Pine 66-39 and Durango 63-41,
“I thought the girls played well at times,” coach Ralph Dunn said. “Still have lots to improve on, and more conditioning. All will come together as the season rolls along.”
Taylor Tollestrup, who had a huge weekend for the Vaqueros, led the way with 23 points in the opening win over Arbor View. Justice Artiaga added 17, while both Sophie Mossner and Laura Rosales scored 8 points.
Against SLAM, Tollestrup scored 19 points and Jaelece Wasson added 14. Tollestrup and Wasson combined for 13 points in the first quarter as the Vaqueros got off to a hot start with 19 points.
In Saturday’s first game, seven different players scored in the first quarter against White Pine as the Vaqueros again got off to a hot start with 21 points. Tollestrup wound up with 18 points and Wasson pitched in with 17.
In the final game of the tournament, Tollestrup led the way with 22 points while Artiaga added 14 and Wasson scored 13 in the win over Durango.
Dunn said all in all it was a good weekend for the Vaqueros to start the season, putting points on the board and responding to different types of defenses.
“It was a good tournament to experience what we have to work on and get the girls to bond some away from home and practice,” Dunn said. “Always nice to win, but preseason is about getting to see what kind of team we have and what combinations work well and what kind of defenses work best for us.”
The Vaqueros’ busy start to the season continues with four more games this week. They will play four games in the Spanish Springs Winter Tip-Off, starting against Piedmont (Calif.) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Friday they will face Douglas at 9 p.m. and Saturday they play twice, against Pyramid Lake at 11 a.m. and Galena at 2 p.m.
“Like I said, it’s still a learning curve and there’s lots to improve on,” Dunn said.
