In a gym that was jam packed, the Blue Jays and Hornets both came out of the gates scalding hot, combining for 16 first half three-pointers. Nevada grabbed an early 22-19 lead after the opening quarter behind nine first quarter points from Keyonte Wingfield. Rilee Faulkner scored 10 points in the first for Blevins.
The second quarter turned into a shootout, with Nevada scoring 24 and Blevins pouring in 22. Tre King got hot for Nevada, as he drained 3 of his four three-pointers in the second quarter. Javi Gomez would score eight of his 16 points in the 2nd for the Hornets, as he and Jaxon Hinton did a great job keeping the Hornets in the game.
With Nevada taking a 46-41 lead into the break, everyone in the building was primed for the second half. Enter sophomore Monti Mixon. Mixon got going in the second half when he scored 15 of his game-high 24 points, pacing the Jays in the second half.
The Hornets knocked down another four three-pointers in the third quarter, but a buzzer beater from Tre King gave Nevada a 10-point lead headed into the final quarter. Nevada would go on to outscore Blevins 20-16 in the final quarter to win the game 87-73.
After the game, Coach Eddie Beck said, "Our conference is really tough. [Nevada] and Blevins are two of those really good teams. Both teams had playmakers making play after play. We were fortunate enough to make a few more plays to get us the win."
Monti Mixon put up 2K-like numbers on Tuesday night, dropping a game-high 24 points, bringing down 20 rebounds and adding 3 blocks, for his first 20/20 game of the year. Mixon spoke on the win after the game, "We came out ready to play tonight. We've had a tough stretch against some really good teams. The crowd, we love them. They brought the energy tonight."
Seniors Keyonte Wingfield (19) and Kobe Hughey (18) combined for 37 points. Hughey added a team-high 6 assists. Sophomore Tre King poured in 15 points, knocking down some big shots for the Blue Jays including four 3s. Rico Aparicio scored seven points and Taco Roberson scored four. Hurk Burns gave Coach Beck some big minutes off the bench in the win.
For the Hornets, junior Rilee Faulkner led the way with 18 points, including knocking down three 3-pointers and grabbing some big rebounds. Javi Gomez poured in 16 points including four 3-pointers. Xavier Bazzelle scored eight of his 15 points in the final quarter. Jaxon Hinton played a great game down low for Coach Dixon's squad, scoring 12 points and bringing down double-digit rebounds. Sean Rohan scored all seven of his points in the second half, while Jemiyan McMorris hit a big three in the 2nd quarter and finished the night with 5.
The atmosphere in the gym was electric on Tuesday night, as everybody in attendance got their money's worth. These two teams will meet up again on Feb. 3 in Blevins, as both teams also have crucial games against the Kirby Trojans coming up this month, as all three teams are sitting with one loss each.