Elijah Jackson takes a shot over the head of Elko's X.
ELKO — The combination of brothers Eric and Alex Klekas proved a beneficial one Friday night against Fallon, leading the Indians to a 67-44 victory over the Greenwave — despite some sloppy Elko moments and some defensive lapses.
Eric, the senior point guard, pumped in 33 points and sophomore Alex scored 13 of his 19 points in the second period — combining for 52 points — and outscoring the Greenwave by eight points by themselves.
The first bucket of the game came nearly three minutes into the contest, provided by Elko junior Angelo Antoniou with a three on a pass from junior Jose Zataray.
Senior Kyrin Allen gave the Indians a 5-0 lead after pretty passing, started by a penetration by Antoniou, kick to Zataray and a drop to Allen in the middle.
The Greenwave found the scoreboard for the first time on a three by sophomore Hayden Strasdin, but a layup by Eric Klekas gave Elko a 7-3 lead.
Junior Christian Nemeth hit a midrange jumper for Fallon, but Elko began a 6-0 run on a short jumper by Eric Klekas coming off a curl.
Senior Isaiah Nelson scored on the break after a block by Eric Klekas, finishing with a bank shot on a pass from junior Stock Salyer.
Fallon closed the quarter on a 4-0 run, using buckets by freshman Elijah Jackson and a sneaky baseline finish by sophomore John Cooley near the buzzer.
Elko led 13-9 entering the second quarter.
The frame began slowly for both teams offensively, but Nemeth finished for Fallon after an offensive board.
From that point forward, Alex Klekas owned the second period.
He went on a personal 11-0 run, beginning with a runner in the lane and finishing an And 1 after some great hustle by Zataray.
Alex Klekas knocked down a pair of free throws, dropped a put-back after an offensive rebound and cashed in defensively — closing the run with a layup after a steal.
Elko led 24-11, but a triple by Eddie Loyden Jr. from the right wing momentarily stopped the bleeding.
Eric Klekas answered fire with fire, responding with a three of his own.
Freshman Thomas Steele put in a deuce for the Greenwave, but Alex Klekas was a workhorse — grabbing another offensive rebound and finishing inside.
Nemeth picked up a loose ball and made his third field of the half for Fallon, but Eric Klekas replied with a two-pointer on the other end — following with a free throw.
Like they did in the first period, Fallon finished the frame on a 4-0 run — finding some easy buckets on a drive by Steele and a crosscourt pass to a wide-open Strasdin.
The Indians led 32-22 at the break, but the Greenwave were in the striking distance.
Eric Klekas drilled a triple after a couple empty Elko possessions to start the third quarter, but Fallon notched consecutive baskets — a deuce by Jackson and a three by senior Nick Smith.
Eric Klekas drained a pair of free throws, and Allen scored and took the bump from behind with a strong finish.
Another wet ball from distance by Eric Klekas gave the Indians a 42-27 lead.
His penetration on Elko’s next possession drew the Fallon defense over and made for an easy look to Allen, who scored on the right block, capping a 9-0 run.
Strasdin drove along the baseline for Fallon’s next bucket and junior Kapili Gleason provided a three from the left wing — cutting the lead to 12 at 44-32.
Alex Klekas came away with a steal and went the distance, but Gleason found himself open and drained his second three.
With the lead trimmed to 11, Eric Klekas took matters into his own hands, dropping the final four points of the frame on a pull-up jumper from 17 feet and finding a layup after a Fallon turnover.
The Indians led 50-35 entering the fourth quarter.
Cooley opened the fourth with a midrange jumper for the Greenwave, but Alex Klekas received a nice bounce pass from older brother Eric and finished at the rim — starting a 14-0 Elko run.
SPRING CREEK – The Spartans erased a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter and came away with a win against Fallon on Saturday by a score of 58-53.
With the win, Spring Creek has moved to 10-4 in the 3A North and keeps pace with Fernley as the Spartans try to chasee down third place seeding.
Fallon came out hot and opened up the game on an 8-2 run in the first quarter. Cooper Cavaness got open and hit two timely threes to bring his team back into the game and the Spartans were only down 11-8 despite the slow start on offense.
Spring Creek and Fallon struggled to gain control of the game in the second quarter. Both teams were scoring at will and the Spartans found other ways to put points on the board when their shooting touch was not there from the perimeter.
Spring Creek relied heavily on points in the paint and at the foul line. Jake Oliphant began to finish on his post moves and Cavaness continued to drive to the basket and draw fouls despite losing a feel for his jumper.
Interior offense was key throughout the game as Oliphant came away with 12 points in the game.
Spring Creek was only down by two headed into halftime but experienced some defensive troubles in the third quarter. The Greenwave outscored the Spartans 21-12 and found a lot of success finishing at the rim.
The majority of Greenwave’s points in the third did not come on fast breaks. Fallon’s ball movement was tough to handle and Spring Creek did not get the help side rotation needed to keep post players from finishing layups.
Defense was not an issue for Spring Creek in the fourth quarter, however. Fallon was held to a mere seven points while Spring Creek put up 23.
Dakota Larson had eight points in the contest and two of his biggest points came when he drove to tie the game at 48 with a difficult finish inside.
The Spartans put the game away from the free throw line and secured the victory.
Spring Creek shot 80 percent from the line and Cavaness shot 17 of 18 from the charity stripe.
