Lady Vandals drop heartbreaker to Owyhee; fall out of first

Foul trouble and turnovers tripped up the Eureka County High School girls basketball team versus Owyhee on Friday, Jan. 16 in Ely. The Lady Vandals entered the fourth quarter with a seven-point lead and ended up losing 37-36.

The Lady Vandals went down by four with three minutes left in the game, but did what was needed to get it tied back up with less than 30 seconds left. They played the next possession well on defense and forced a poor shot, but the rebound ended up in the capable hands of Owyhee freshman Misty Thomas. She was fouled and made one of two free throws. The Vandals couldn’t get down the court to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.

“[Anna] McKay and [Quil] Filippini were in foul trouble. Owyhee capitalized on our turnovers, and we couldn’t get anything to fall from the end of the third to late in the fourth,” said ECHS head coach Travis Gallagher. “I thought we played a good game. Free throws plagued us again, and we couldn’t slow [Misty Thomas] down.” 

The Vandals went seven for 25 from the free throw line. Sophomores Annie Tibbitts and McKay led the team with eight points, and classmate Natalie Bliss scored seven points and grabbed nine rebounds. 

“Tough loss for the girls. We thought we had it. Very proud of how we played, but we will have to stay positive and work hard in the second half of the regular season.”

The Vandals (10-5, 4-2) are at McDermitt (8-5, 4-2) on Friday, Jan. 23 at 5:30 p.m. They won the first game 62-35. They host Round Mountain at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24.