VIRGINIA CITY - Virginia City barely worked up a sweat en route to its fifth straight Northern 1A victory of the season.
The Muckers boys basketball team, led by Zach Shell and Ryan Conners, built an early 19-point lead and cruised to an easy 80-36 win over Pyramid Lake Saturday night.
Shell scored a season-best 33 points, while Conners added 21. Both scored at will against the outmanned Lakers.
"We started out kind of sloppy, about the first three minutes" said VC coach Hector Bucchianeri. "We were sloppy in the second quarter. That's something that we have to clean up.
"He (Shell) didn't force anything tonight. He stayed within the offense. At the end of the game, he was leading the young guys."
This one was over early, as the Muckers outscored Pyramid lake 23-2 in the final six minutes of the first quarter for a 24-5 lead. Conners led the way with 12 and Shell dropped in seven.
The teams traded points in the first four minutes of the second quarter before the Muckers tallied eight straight to up their lead to 39-11 at halftime. Shell had five in the quarter, including his second 3-pointer of the half.
Shell caught fire in the third quarter, draining 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to increase VC's lead to 55-18. The two bombs keyed a quarter-ending 13-4 run which gave the Muckers a 60-22 lead after three.
VC GIRLS ROLL
The Muckers, who scored 26 consecutive points in the first six minutes of the game, rolled to an easy 71-14 victory over Pyramid Lake Saturday afternoon.
The win was VC's fourth straight without a loss in Northern 1A play.
Pyramid Lake had no answer for the Muckers' pressure, trapping defense led by Jill Dupre. Pyramid Lake had trouble advancing the ball past midcourt from the outset. The Lakers turned the ball over 14 times in the first eight minutes, leading to 18 of Virginia City's 31 first-quarter points.
Taylor Parson scored 11 of her 13 in the first quarter, while Micah Blakely scored six of her 12 in the first eight minutes. Because of the turnovers, the Lakers went 2-for-7 from the floor in the first quarter, both baskets by Laura Rivera. Pyramid Lake's first score of the game didn't come until there was 1:39 left.
"We wanted to get the pace of the game in our favor," said assistant coach Brian Bolton, who was filling in for head coach Todd Hess, who was on a hunting trip. "It helps the girls get in the right mental state. It's (the press) is the way we always play."
Virginia City kept up the pressure the entire second quarter, scoring the last 11 points for a 49-6 advantage after the first 16 minutes. The Lakers didn't score a point in the last 5 1/2 minutes. Freshman Heather Harrower and senior Esmie Venegas drained 3-pointers in the quarter.
The Muckers sat back in a zone defense the final two quarters and were content to pass the ball around and take either layups or wide-open shots.
"I wanted clean, open shots or layups," Bolton said. "If we got a steal, we slowed it down and set it up."
Keana Prahl led VC with 16 followed by Parson with 13 and Blakely and Venegas with 12 each.
