Fallon senior Vernita Fillmore and the Greenwave are in a three-way tie for first in the 3A North (East).
Photo by Thomas Ranson.
Halfway through the league season, the Churchill County High School girls basketball team finds itself in a three-way tie for first with last year’s state finalists.
For the first time since 2019, Fallon defeated cross-valley rival Fernley last week. The loss was the Vaqueros first in league in three years. Along with Saturday’s running-clock win over Dayton, Fallon finished the first half of the 3A East schedule 4-1. It begins the second half this weekend. Fernley defeated Lowry on Saturday to create a three-way tie for first with Fallon.
Fallon, which lost to three-time defending 3A state champ Lowry by five points earlier this month, entertains Elko on Friday and Spring Creek on Saturday. Saturday’s game is the home finale for the Wave, including seniors Brynlee Nichols, Megan Johnson and Vernita Fillmore.
In Fallon’s 53-48 win over Fernley last Wednesday at the Elmo Dericco Gymnasium, the Wave trailed throughout the first half. But unlike the Lowry loss, Fallon was able to battle back to take and hold a lead. Down 27-23 going into the second half, Fallon outscored Fernley by four in the third quarter and five in the fourth to complete the comeback win.
Fallon won despite shooting 27 percent from the floor, but it held Fernley to 33 percent shooting. Fallon also won the turnover battle, 29-22.
Sophomore twins Karlie and Kortnie Simper powered Fallon’s offense, combining for 31 points. Karlie Simper shot 55 percent from the field, posting a game-high 18 points, while Kortnie Simper scored 13.
Freshman Amillya Bishop scored eight points, Fillmore added six, including a pair of 3s. Fillmore, Nichols, juniors Lea Williams and Kylee Simper and sophomore Raegan Johnson each had two. Kortnie Simper led the team in rebounding with seven boards, and junior Janessa Bettencourt and Johnson each had six, and Karlie Simper had five to go with a team-high eight steals and two assists.
Fallon followed the Fernley win with a 53-8 crushing of Dayton on Saturday.
Bishop and Nichols each scored 10 points with Bishop also hitting a pair of 3s, Raegan Johnson added nine and Kortnie Simper had eight, including two 3-pointers. Junior Leah Sorensen and Kylee Simper each scored five points, and Karlie Simper and Megan Johnson each had three. Sorensen and Raegan Johnson each pulled down five rebounds, and Kortnie Simper and Megan Johnson each had four. Lea Williams led the team in steals with five and Kortnie Simper had four.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Despite winning only one 3A East game in the first half of the schedule, the Greenwave boys basketball team is still in the hunt for a playoff berth.
Two of Fallon’s four losses came within a possession, including a buzzer-beater 3 against Lowry. Fallon, which begins the second half of the schedule this weekend, is in a three-way tie for the fourth and final playoff spot.
Spring Creek cruised to a 5-0 record in the first half, handing Fernley (4-1) its only league loss while Dayton (3-2), which defeated Fallon by two on Saturday, is in third. The last spot is a battle between Fallon, Lowry and Elko, which all have a 1-4 record.
Fallon hosts Elko on Friday at the Elmo Dericco Gymnasium before closing out its home schedule on Saturday against Spring Creek. Fallon is on the road for its final games against Lowry, Dayton and Fernley.
Saturday is also senior night for Colin Shishido, Braden Sorensen, Koa Nihoa, Kylan Sorensen, Dru MacKay and Trevor Hyde.
After getting back to winning with a three-point win over Wooster, Fallon fell to Fernley, 74-38, after the Vaqueros opened the margin in the second half.
Playing without the Sorensen cousins, sophomore Calin Anderson led the team with 20 points, including three 3-pointers, and Hyde added eight. Nihoa scored four points, and Shishido, and juniors Wyatt Peek and Barry Mitchell each had two.
Hyde led the team in rebounding with nine, Anderson and Mitchell each had four, and MacKay and Peek each had three. Shishido led the team in assists with three and Hyde had a team-high two steals.
In Saturday’s 49-47 loss to Dayton, Fallon stormed back from a nine-point halftime deficit to lead 35-33 going into the fourth quarter.