Streaking Vandals win fourth straight game

Two weeks ago, the Eureka County High boys basketball team earned two key league wins in their new gym below the high school. They outplayed Wells and Jackpot to bring their league record to 3-1.

Last Friday night the Vandals welcomed McDermitt into town for another home league contest and improved their record with a 71-52 win.

McDermitt came into the game against the Vandals with a 4-0 unblemished league record. Eureka had big contributions from multiple players against the Bulldogs which proved very beneficial in the outcome. Nick Gordon led the Vandals with 20 points while point guard Nick Hornberger dumped in 16 points. Trevor Merritt and Paul Padilla also scored in double figures for Eureka with 13 and 11 points respectively.

The win for Eureka gave them a 4-1 league record and a tie for first place in league along with McDermitt. “A good, tough win against a previously undefeated league team,” Eureka coach Elmer Porter said about the win.

The Vandals took on bigger school White Pine Tuesday night and Eureka showed that even though they are a smaller school than White Pine, their play can still speak volumes.

The Vandals led from the very beginning and didn’t seemed to be phased by a 1-3-1 zone White Pine showed for a majority of the game. Eureka broke the press time and time again to find easy lanes to the basket and open shooters on the wings. These two factors along with strong defense gave Eureka a 72-57 win against the Bobcats of White Pine.

Merritt led Eureka in scoring with 17 while Padilla chipped in 15 points of his own. Gordon added 9 rebounds for Eureka while Hornberger had 9 steals.

The Vandal Boys basketball team will have a busy weekend starting with a non-league game Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at home against Round Mountain. Friday will bring Carlin to town for a league game at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday will bring Owhyee to Eureka for another league contest that tips at 5:30 p.m.
If Eureka can beat Carlin and Owhyee for a second straight time in league, it will most likely set up a showdown for first place when Eureka travels to McDermitt Feb. 13 to take on the Bulldogs.