WINNEMUCCA - The Lowry High School junior varsity boys basketball team is off to a quick start this year, after winning four games in three days in two different towns.
The Buckaroos (4-0) opened their season with a 63-55 win over Owyhee on Thursday, Nov. 29, on the first day of the Lowry Invitational at the Winnemucca Event Center.
Lowry then made the short trip to Lovelock for the Pershing County tournament and beat Fernley 32-25 on Friday, Nov. 29. The Buckaroos won twice on Saturday, knocking off Yerington 31-15 and Pershing County 38-34.
"The kids played hard and the defense is getting better," said LHS coach Jeff Rinas. "The win over Owyhee was a good one for us. There are some things we still need to work on. The biggest thing for us is that we need to be more patient on offense."
Lowry jumped out to a quick start against Owyhee, leading 7-2 in the first quarter on the strength of five points by Christian Gray. The Braves rallied for seven consecutive points to take a 9-7 advantage, but the Buckaroos battled back with the next four points off baskets by Chris Tyree and Omar Guerrero. However, Lowry had to settle for an 11-11 tie going into the second period.
Owyhee connected on a 3-point field goal at the start of the second quarter and held the lead until Guerrero hit a shot late in the first half to put Lowry up 23-21. The advantage was short-lived as the Braves scored the final six points of the first half.
Lowry quickly flipped the momentum, with Thomas Schwartz converting a 3-point play three seconds into the third quarter. That propelled the Buckaroos to a 21-8 run and 44-35 lead. Dawson Cassinelli and Roberto Sanchez each had five points in the third quarter and Christian Gray added four points.
Owyhee closed the gap to three points, 48-45, in the fourth quarter, but Lowry countered with baskets by Sterling Dennis and Gray to take a seven-point lead.
With two minutes to play, the Braves cut the deficit to a point, at 53-52, when Gray connected on a basket and Dennis made two free throws to allow the Buckaroos pull away to a comfortable margin.
Gray and Guerrero led Lowry with 18 and 15 points, respectively. Dennis and Sanchez each had eight points, Cassinelli seven, Schwartz three and Kyle Tarr and Tyree two apiece.
"We played better in the second half," Rinas said. "We were playing Owyhee's style of game to start and we are not that kind of team. Once we settled down on offense we were OK."
In Lovelock, the games were played with two 20-minute halves and a running clock. Against Fernley, Lowry trailed the Vaqueros by a point at halftime, 13-12, but outscored the Vaqueros 20-12 in the second half.
Cassinelli led the Buckaroos with 10 points, as six different players scored. Gray and Josh Rose had eight and six points, respectively, and Dennis, Jacob Von Aspern and Sanchez finished with two points each.
"The main thing we have to work on is getting into our offense and running it better," said the coach. "We also have to rebound better. Our offensive rebounding was not good all weekend. We think every shot is going in. We have to follow shots better."
The Buckaroos used four points each from Dennis and Cassinelli and two more from Guerrero and Von Aspern to build a 12-7 halftime lead over Yerington on Saturday.
Eight of the 12 players that suited up for Lowry scored in the game, which was decided early in the second half, when the Buckaroos went on a quick run to open up a double-digit lead.
Cassinelli and Gray paced the Buckaroos with six points apiece. Luke Logan added five points, Dennis and Von Aspern had four each and Guerrero, Tarr and Tyree two each.
In the win over Pershing County, Lowry built a nine-point advantage in the first half, but had to hang on for the four-point victory.
"It was the fourth game in three days and we got a little tired," Rinas said. "It was a good start for us. We need to fine tune some things. We have to get better on offense. When we waited and got good looks, we got easy baskets."
Cassinelli and Guerrero paced the Buckaroos with 10 points each. Sanchez added six, Gray four and, Dennis, Rose, Schwartz and Logan had two points apiece.
Lowry has 13 days in between games and returns to action on Friday, Dec. 14, in Sparks for a 4:30 p.m. tipoff in the Division I-A matchup. The Buckaroos then travel to Truckee on Saturday, Dec. 15, for a 12:30 p.m. start.
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