Vandals Win Two at Tourney

The Eureka County High boys basketball team won two and lost one at the Round Mountain tournament last weekend.

They started with host Round Mountain and demolished the Knights 54-7, the widest margin of victory in the 34 games the teams have played since 2005. Eureka now leads the series 18-16.

Vandals coach Fred Minoletti said Round Mountain (0-10) is “really down and struggling this season.”

Tristan Bircham had 16 points to lead Eureka. Chase Green had 14 points and Vinny Padilla added 12.

The Saturday morning game was with Tonopah which the Muckers won 54-53. “They had a good first and third quarter and we had a good second and fourth quarter,” Minoletti said. “We had a halftime lead 27-24, but were outscored 17-10 in the third quarter giving the Muckers a four-point lead and it went back and forth after that.”

Minoletti reported as the game was coming to an end with a tie score, “there was a loose ball and officials called a foul on one of my kids. It was a 1-1 and the Tonopah player made the first one, missed the second one, and we got the ball with about 4 seconds left but couldn’t get off a good shot. It hit the rim, but did not go in.”

Chase Green was a high point man for the Vandals with 20.

The Saturday afternoon game was with the Beatty Hornets which the Vandals won 51-46.

“Not a good first half for us, though, not shooting well,” Minoletti said. “We only scored 15 points in the first half. We woke up in the second half to score 36.”

Green again was the leading scorer for the Vandals with 25 points.

Minoletti said the team right now is needing “to do a lot better on defense or it is going to be a long year for us.”

On Thursday this week, Eureka (7-6) had a non-league matchup with Battle Mountain and lost 65-42 as the Longhorns dominated the second half.

After the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, the boys will open league plays Jan. 5-6 hosting Carlin and Owyhee.