The Battle Mountain boys basketball team has already matched its 2024 win total
The Huskies are 2-3 heading into Saturday's contest against Evergreen
Rex Keep/Courtesy photo
Rudy Ybarra knows last year’s 2-21 record wasn’t an accurate representation of his Battle Mountain boys basketball program. Just five games into the 2024-25 campaign, the Huskies already have equaled that win total. The second-year head coach has his team sitting at 2-3 entering Saturday’s home game against Evergreen.
“Our program has started in a great direction this season,” Ybarra stated. The coach said practice participation has improved and athletes are fitter after fall athletic seasons. Seniors Kitz Petrovski and Charlie Strauch hit the ground running coming off their respective football and soccer campaigns. Petrovski leads the team in rebounds and Strauch is averaging 16.8 points per game. Fellow senior Blake Roberts has made a big impact as well, averaging 13.4 points and 5.8 rebounds a contest.
The Huskies opened the year with back-to-back losses against Windsor Charter Academy (86-68) and Lake County (64-61) before taking down Meeker 51-41 on Dec. 14 and Rifle 73-68 on Dec. 17. Ybarra said defensive adjustments were key in both victories.
“We held Meeker to three points in the fourth quarter at their home,” he stated before pointing out that his squad also trailed Rifle 51-49 at the start of the fourth.
“(We) made some great steals and defensive stops to defend our first home game of the season and get the win,” he said. Strauch’s stat line was absurd in the victory. The senior went 13-for-15 from the field for 29 points. The junior class has come up big for Battle Mountain, too. Beau Suman is averaging double-digit points per game and Jackson Wansley is averaging 4.2 assists and 3.2 steals per game. Veteran leadership, especially with regard to “off-court habits,” is one reason for the shift this season, Ybarra said.
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“Last season, we had too many distractions in the season that created negative consequences,” he stated.
The coaching staff has held more team meetings and paired each senior with an underclassmen to mentor and model healthy work ethic.
“This season, we are explaining to players that team togetherness starts before you pick up the basketball,” Ybarra continued. “It is not just the 32 minutes in a game that makes a team great.”
The Huskies don’t open up league play until Jan. 30 at Eagle Valley, but they’ll face an in-valley rival before that with Vail Mountain School coming to Edwards on Jan. 14. Battle Mountain is 3-0 in the I-70 series standings after defeating the Gore Rangers 60-26 last January. As important as local matches are, Ybarra has bigger aspirations for the club in its redemption tour.
“Our storyline this season is that we are coming back from a faulty year,” he said. “And we are playing this season to earn a 5A playoff spot in February.”
