Vandals go 14-0 to earn top seed, bye in regional playoffs

The Eureka County High School boys basketball team completed its undefeated league season with wins at Carlin on Friday, Feb. 6, and at Owyhee on Saturday, Feb. 7.

The Vandals crushed Carlin, 63-21. “Joseph Minoletti, Dean Benson and Legend Hicks contributed most of the scoring again. Donny Mears and Coltin Bice both scored in double digits,” informed ECHS head coach Fred Minoletti.

The Owyhee Braves gave the Vandals a tough test, ultimately falling 45-34, however. Owyhee finished the regular season second in the Eastern 1A and, like Eureka, will receive a bye in the regional playoffs.

“Owyhee gave us a really good game, which we needed going into the playoffs. We didn’t play as well as we would have liked on offense, but defensively we played well,” Minoletti said.

The Vandals will play the winner of McDermitt and Wells on Friday, Feb. 13 at 4:40 p.m. in Elko. The closest either team came to beating the Vandals this season was a 68-42 loss by Wells at home and a 68-41 loss by McDermitt in Eureka. 

“We’re expecting their game to be closely contested as they split during league play. Both teams can be dangerous if they are shooting well,” Minoletti informed. “We played well versus both teams during league play, but neither team is one that we want to overlook.”