RICHARD STEPHENS / PVT Cali Carroll, 24, of Beatty defends a shot by Tonopah's Kaici Hirsch, in the Hornets' 47-40 Nevada Class A Central Division girls' basketball game played Friday in Beatty. Advertisement

BEATTY -- When long-time high school basketball rivals -- like the Beatty Hornets and Tonopah Muckers -- collide, fans expect anything to happen, and it usually does.

Case in point: the Hornets-Muckers Nevada Class A Central Division girls-boys doubleheader here Friday. On a night when the weather was icy cold and rainy, the Nye County adversaries had the crowd in a frenzy, from the start of the girls' game until the end of the boys' battle.

The Beatty girls led throughout the game, but constantly had to fight off Mucker rallies to prevail 47-40. The Tonopah boys won 41-40, as Bryce Flaming sank two free throws with 0:09.4 seconds left. When Mario Roman's short-range shot bounced off the rim at the buzzer, the Muckers had achieved victory in their first division start.

Beatty's girls, under the direction of coach Aimee Senior, led 12-10, 25-21 and 36-31 at the quarters. The Hornets' lead was three (41-38) with 47 seconds left, after Tonopah's Patricia Miller fired in a 3-pointer.

Karli Rust scored two of her team-high 14 points at 0:35, but the lead fell back to 43-40 at 0:24.5 on a field goal by Kaici Hirsch.

Rust hit a field goal and two free throws in the remaining time to protect the Beatty advantage.

Jennifer Porte added 10 points for Beatty, while Hirsch's 12 led Tonopah.

"I was pleased with the way the girls played, after having two weeks off," said Eddie Cobb, the Tonopah coach. "We had a lot of missed shots under the basket, and we missed too many free throws." The Muckers were 4-for-10 from the line.

In the boys' game, Beatty led 12-6 after one period, but the Muckers charged to a 22-19 advantage at halftime. It was tied at 26-26 going into the final period, as the Beatty defense held Tonopah to just four points in the third quarter.

Beatty led 38-37 with 0:58.6 left, but the Muckers jumped ahead 39-38 on two free throws by Roberto Miramontes at 0:41.6. A 14-foot jump shot by Roman at 0;23 pushed Beatty ahead 40-39, setting up the play that led Flaming's missed field goal -- but his game-winning free throws.

Miramontes led the Muckers with 12 points, while Flaming had nine.

Saturday, Beatty defeated Round Mountain 43-24, while the Muckers lost 50-47 to division-leading Spring Mountain.

"We just have to get ourselves mentally ready to play," said Tonopah coach Jay McLauchlin. Offered Brian Hayes, the Beatty coach, "We're playing a little better ... we still have to find the right rotation in our lineup."

Central 1-A basketball

BOYS

1-A All

W-L W-L

Spring Mountain 3-0 5-10

Lund 2-0 4-11

International 1-0 4-10

Tonopah 1-2 4-14

Beatty 1-2 3-13

Indian Springs 0-2 3- 8

RMountain 0-2 2-13

Last Week

Tonopah 41, Beatty 40

Spring Mountain 50, Tonopah 47

Beatty 43, Round Mountain 23

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GIRLS

Round Mountain 1-0 8-8

Lund 1-0 4-8

Beatty 1-1 4-5

Indian Springs 1-1 5-14

International 0-1 0-4

Tonopah 0-1 2-7

Last Week

Beatty 47, Tonopah 40

Round Mountain 38, Beatty 24

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This Week

Jan. 8

Indian Springs at Spring Mountain (boys only)

Round Mountain at Tonopah

Today

Indian Springs at Las Vegas Agassi Prep

Friday

Lund at Spring Mountain

Tonopah at Henderson International School

Beatty at Indian Springs

Saturday

Lund at Henderson International School

Round Mountain at Spring Mountain

Tonopah at Indian Springs.