Lady Vandals start season 4-0

Eureka County High girls basketball coach Travis Gallagher and his Lady Vandal basketball team has officially began the 2015-16 season as they reeled off four straight dominating wins in the WRC Classic over the weekend.

Gallager explained his outlook for the season by stating, “Looking forward to another great season with the Lady Vandals as we have a new, young team for this upcoming season.”

The Lady Vandals have six returning players from the previous season as only one was a varsity starter a year ago. Eureka has 12 new players this season which are currently freshman or sophomores.

“We don’t have much size this season but should make up for that in speed and ball handling,” Gallagher added.

On Dec. 3, the Lady Vandals took the hardwood for their first game of the season against the Elko High JV team. Newcomer Morgan Thomas led Eureka with 18 points while Megan Damele contributed with 14 points of her own.

“For a first game, the girls played well as we had a bunch of fast break opportunities and our press worked well,” Gallagher explained.

The following day, Eureka dominated once again as they suffocated Round Mountain with their speed and relentless pressure and went on to an easy 63-26 victory over the Lady Knights. Thomas once again led in scoring with 21 points.

Later in the day, Eureka won their third straight game of the season by a significant amount when they laced them up against Carlin. Megan Damele scored an impressive 24 points and Cody Gibbs added 13 for the Lady Vandals, who went on to defeat Carlin 62-16.

The final game of the weekend came on Saturday against Tonopah. Eureka won another blowout 54-20 against the Lady Railroaders. Katie Damele led Eureka with 16 points.

“The full court press and fast breaking offense set the tempo for this game and Tonopah didn’t have an answer for it,” Gallagher mentioned.

The Lady Vandals are off to a dominant 4-0 start to give them an impressive start to the season. Although it’s very early, Eureka will look to continue their winning ways of recent seasons. They will get their first test against Smith Valley this weekend at the Comstock Classic in Virginia City.

Smith Valley went to state last year and didn’t lose many players from that team, so it should be a good measuring stick for the Lady Vandals early in the season.