WINNEMUCCA - The Lowry High School boys freshmen basketball team opened Division I-A North play this past weekend at home with a pair of wins.
After getting a scare in a 57-47 victory over South Tahoe on Friday night, the Buckaroos routed Dayton 59-15 on Saturday afternoon to improve to 2-0 in league play and 7-3 on the season.
"It was nice to get a couple of wins," said LHS head coach Grant Beatty. "We are still a little inconsistent at times, but we are getting better. We are gaining confidence every time we go out on the floor."
Lowry looked as if it was going to run away from South Tahoe, going on a 16-3 run in the first quarter after the Vikings opened the game with a 3-point field goal. Brady Lange put the Buckaroos on the scoreboard and Jed Teichert closed out the run with a 3-point play.
However, Lowry went cold from the field in the second quarter, making just one field goal by Joe Taylor. South Tahoe was equally off in the quarter making just one field goal as well, but connected on three free throws to cut the deficit to 19-14 at halftime.
Following the break, Lowry got back on track, starting the third quarter with a 45-foot lob pass from Teichert to Jacob Hernandez and Dustin Gray and Darrin Nelson added 3-point field goals to push the advantage to 27-16.
South Tahoe countered with five consecutive points to cut the margin to six points and the schools traded buckets for much of the third quarter with Lowry leading 39-34.
"We just could not put them away," Beatty said. "Anytime we would make a run, South Tahoe would come right back. We have to find a way to play four full quarters."
The Vikings scored the first point of the fourth quarter to cut the Buckaroo lead to four points, only to see Lowry score the next nine points to lead 48-36. Taylor had four points during that run and Teichert added three. The Buckaroos pushed the advantage to 54-38 with two minutes to play before settling for the 10-point win.
Taylor and Teichert paced Lowry with 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Nelson added 11. Lange scored eight points, Gray six, Hernandez three and Jacob Barnes two.
Lowry had little trouble on Saturday against Dayton, scoring the first 17 points of the game. Teichert had eight of those points and Taylor added five, including a 3-point field goal.
The Buckaroo started the second quarter on a 7-2 run with Teichert connecting on a 3-point field goal and went in to halftime with a 33-9 lead.
"The biggest thing we were looking for was consistency and we had that today," said the coach. "It was a good chance for us to run some things and the guys got a lot of playing time. I just want the guys to gain some confidence and not get down on themselves if something goes wrong."
Lowry held Dayton without a field goal for the first five minutes of the third quarter to go in front 44-10. After the Dust Devils scored their first field goal, the Buckaroos finished the third quarter on a 6-1 run to lead 50-13.
Dayton scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter but was held scoreless from there as Lowry scored the final nine points of the game. The final four minutes were played with a running clock due to the NIAA 40-point mercy rule.
Taylor and Teichert scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Buckaroos. Salvador Perez added nine points, Brian Kellyn seven, Austin Robison five, Lange four, Gray three and Donavyn Morris two.
Lowry returns to the floor on Thursday, Jan. 2, with a trip to Sparks and a 4:30 p.m. tip-off. The Buckaroo travel to Truckee on Saturday, Jan. 4, to play the Wolverines at 12:30 p.m.
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