On Thursday, the Bishop Manogue Miners faced the Pyramid Lake Lakers in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Bishop Manogue walked away with a 52-39 win over Pyramid Lake. Winning may never get old, but Bishop Manogue sure is getting used to it with their fourth in a row.
Bishop Manogue's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Fa'anaetaua Puloka, who scored 11 points along with eight rebounds and five assists. That's the first time this season that Puloka pulled down eight or more rebounds. Another player making a difference was Jaileen Yarrow, who scored 13 points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Pyramid Lake lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Olivia Lara, who scored ten points. Those ten points set a new season-high mark for her. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaitlin Mandell, who scored eight points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Bishop Manogue pushed their record up to 5-1 with that win, which was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 55.3 points per game. As for Pyramid Lake, their loss ended a six-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 3-2.
Bishop Manogue will be playing at home against Grants Pass at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in their respective states (Grants Pass is ranked eighth in Oregon, while Bishop Manogue is ranked third in Nevada). Pyramid Lake won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Mammoth at 4:30 p.m. on December 8th. Mammoth's defense has only allowed 21.2 points per game this season, so Pyramid Lake's offense will have their work cut out for Pyramid Lake.
