It was an interesting start to the season for the Lowry High School boys basketball team to say the least.
The Buckaroos are coming off its sixth consecutive trip to the state tournament, but are rebuilding with just four players returning from a season ago.
Lowry opened its season this past weekend at the Legacy Tip-Off Classic in Las Vegas and were without two of those returning players. Christian Gray had his tonsils taken out and did not make the trip and Garrett Naveran is still recovering from a shoulder injury from football season.
That left Sterling Dennis and Thomas Schwartz as the only players with varsity experience. Schwartz got sick down in Las Vegas and missed the final game of the tournament.
Despite everything, Lowry managed a 2-2 record over the three days.
"The two guys that played the most last year did not play for us," said LHS coach Chad Peters. "We had a couple of injuries that happened at the tournament, Omar (Guerrero) has really only been with us for three days before the tournament. We did OK for what we were up against."
Lowry began the tournament against Mojave, one of the better teams in Las Vegas. The Rattlers jumped out to a 26-13 lead in the first quarter and went on to win 69-38.
"That is a pretty good team that we played," Peters said. "They are probably one of the best 10 teams in Las Vegas regardless of classification. We really haven't done much offensively in the first couple of weeks. For the most part, we played pretty good defense. We just couldn't score after that. We missed a lot of shots."
The Rattlers used an 11-0 run in the second quarter to lead 37-13 at halftime and the gap never dropped below 20 points the rest of the way. Nate Lutzow led Lowry with 10 points in his first varsity game and Guerrero added seven. Jared Taylor netted six points, Jacob Hales three and Sterling Dennis, Roberto Sanchez, Brian Shettler, Chris Tyree, Jacob Von Aspern and Schwartz each had two points.
Lowry collected its first win of the year on Friday, Dec. 5, with a 49-32 win over Robert Bateman out of Canada. The Buckaroos shot just 31 percent from the floor, but was able to pull out the 10-point win.
"We shot the ball terrible, but was still able to win," Peters said. "It wasn't like we were shooting 15 footers, we were shooting the ball from two feet away. We couldn't make a layup. We are getting good looks, we need to start finishing."
However, Lowry was 3-for-3 from the 3-point line, compared to 18-for-64 from inside the arch. All 3-pointers were off inbound plays.
Lowry led 13-8 after eight minutes of play and the Buckaroos extended their six-point lead to 41-26 after three quarters of play.
"It was an ugly win, but it was a win," added the coach. "We did a good job defensively."
Guerrero led the Buckaroos with 16 points, Taylor scored nine and Lutzow eight. Schwartz finished with six, Dennis five, Sanchez three and Von Aspern two.
It was an early wake-up call for Lowry on Saturday morning to face Faith Lutheran at 8:30 a.m. The Buckaroos also had to deal with John Molchon, who is 6 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 270 pounds. He is going to play football at Boise State next year.
"I told Tyree, Lutzow and Taylor when you are guarding him, you need to front him and get low," Peters said. "We did a good job of that in the first half and we got him frustrated. Thank God he is a nice kid, or he would have torn someone's head off. He is the nicest kid on the planet. He is very respectful. I would have hate to lineup against him during football season. He is a monster. Tyree did a great job on him."
Lowry jumped out to a 15-4 lead in the first quarter, but could not hold the advantage, scoring just 17 points in the final three quarters. The Buckaroos led 22-17 at halftime, only to see the Crusaders go on a 25-10 run in the second half.
"They went in a zone and we struggled with it," Peters said. "We couldn't hit a shot again. I would have done the same thing."
Dennis, Schwartz and Lutzow each had seven points. However, Lutzow rolled his ankle during the game. Dennis was named to the all-tournament team. Taylor added six, Sanchez and Von Aspern two each and Tyree one.
Lowry finished out its stay in Las Vegas later that night with a 57-43 win over Virgin Valley. Virgin Valley beat Churchill County 61-60 in overtime earlier in the tourney.
"We are still finding our way," Peters said. "We had some troubles in the first with effort, like we have been playing. We had a little talk at halftime and changed some things around. We gave some bench guys a chance and Shettler and Hales came in and played great."
Lowry trailed 23-18 at halftime, but used a 21-point third quarter to go in front 39-36 and Lowry did not trail again.
Lutzow and Taylor had their best scoring performances of the year with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Dennis and Von Aspern scored five points each, Guerrero four, Hales and Sanchez three each and Tyree two.
"If you would have told me that we won two games and have a chance to three against the teams we played, I would have bet you a lot of money and say you are crazy," Peters said. "It's not that I have confidence in these guys, I am just impressed and pleased with how coachable they are. We are picking up things quickly."
Lowry began play on Wednesday at the Rail City Classic in Reno against Reno High School and the Huskies won 58-45. The Buckaroos played Hug on Thursday and results were not available at press time. The tournament continues Friday and Saturday.[[In-content Ad]]
