Lady Wave takes down Fernley

Any time rival teams face each other it’s going to be an exciting game — add in both are among the top teams in the league and that makes it more meaningful.

The Lady Wave and Fernley’s Lady Vaqueros faced off Tuesday, ending their second encounter of the season with Fallon winning 43-26.

The Wave dominated the court most of the game, keeping Fernley to one or two baskets per quarter. By halftime, Fallon led 31-9.

Things turned around in the second half, however. The third quarter was a stalemate with both teams only managing two baskets. The fourth quarter, though, saw the Lady Vaqueros break through to score 13 points from Celeste Condie, Hailee Edgar, Jaiden Sullivan and Karli Burns.

Edgar led Fernley with seven points, with one three-pointer, followed closely by Condie’s six and Sullivan’s five. McKenna Montgomery scored four while Ellie Kingston and Burns each scored two. Burns, Condie and Reese Jones were also strong defensive players, each with four rebounds.

For Fallon, Caitlyn Welch and Lailani Otuafi led in scoring with 13 and 11 respectively. The whole team contributed, with most scoring several baskets; Kailtyn Hunter scored three points, Faith Cornmesser six, Leta Otuafi nine, Allison Lister and Alexis Jarrett two each.

Fallon coach Ann Smith said she liked getting the win, but was disappointed with how the second half went. She said the Fallon players still had a strong defense in the third quarter, but started having offensive problems; then in the final quarter things fell apart.

The coach also noted they ran into issues with passing the ball, holding it instead of keeping it constantly moving; she said this gave Fernley time to adjust its strategy rather than being kept off balance trying to cover whomever had the ball.

The Lady Wave also ran into problems shooting in the second half.

“We missed a lot of buckets underneath, and that’s just lack of concentration,” Smith said. “We definitely have some things to work on before we meet Lowry.”

The Fallon team travels to Truckee today, then takes on Dayton at home one week after, Feb. 2. Smith said she is confident about both games, but added that they have to execute their game plan regardless of whom they’re playing. One of the coach’s mantras has been to play each game as if it’s a playoff game and never underestimate an opponent. “If we do that, we’ll be fine,” Smith said.