Vandals drop pair at home

The Vandals boys basketball team faced the 1A East co-league leader, Jackpot and also played Wells Jan. 18-19 and came away with two losses.

Coach Fred Minoletti had said he expected the games would be tough ones.

The Vandals lost first to Wells 69-34, then to Jackpot 53-34.

Wells just overpowered the Vandals, holding them to only 14 points in the first half. The second half was a little better for Eureka, but they were still outscored 40-20.

Minoletti said the problem the Vandals are suffering badly from at present is turnovers. “I think we had 38 in the Wells game, and you can’t win with giving the other team that many chances. We played better against Jackpot, but again the turnovers hurt us. And there was a stretch of about two minutes when Jackpot went on a 10-0 run and it just got away from us.”

Individual stats were not posted for either game.

This week, the Vandals (5-9, 1-3) are on the road for games at McDermitt (2-17, 1-3) on Friday and a non-league game with Oasis Academy (6-8) in Fallon on Saturday.

Minoletti said, “It’s always tough to play at McDermitt.” The Bulldogs have won the last three meetings.

As for the game with Oasis, a team out of the new Central League, he said, “We played them at our place last year, so this year we go there.”

It’s the Vandals first meeting of the season with either team.

Five games, three at home, are on the league schedule for the Eureka boys and girls teams in February.

The 1A East-West regional tournament, hosted by the West, will be Feb. 21-23 at Wooster and Hug High schools in Reno. The following week, the state tournament will be held Feb. 28-Mar. 2 at The Orleans in Las Vegas.