WINNEMUCCA - One could not blame the Lowry High School varsity boys basketball team if they needed directions to find its home floor.
The Buckaroos played 10 of their first 11 games of the season on the road, which included trips to Las Vegas, Reno, South Tahoe and Dayton.
Lowry jumped back in to Division I-A North action at home this past weekend to close out the Christmas break. The Buckaroos made quick work of Sparks on Friday winning 64-26, while knocking off Truckee 68-44 on Saturday to extend their winning streak to 11 games.
"We have a plan on what we want to do this season," said LHS head coach Chad Peters. "I have never been a coach that looked at scores and worries about how much we beat someone by. That's not what makes you a better basketball team. Beating someone by 40 or beating some by 20 and working on things is a totally different thing. We treat these games like practice. We are working on things with guys in different lineups. We are working on bunch of things. Why get a 40-point lead and a running clock that does nothing for anybody."
Last year Sparks came up a few points of shocking Lowry in the Division I-A regional playoffs and ending the Buckaroos' season. Any thoughts of another upset bid was put to bed quickly as Lowry raced out to a18-5 lead in the first quarter.
The Buckaroos (12-1 overall, 4-0 Division I-A North) broke the game open with a 20-6 run in the third quarter to increase the lead to 51-21 and the contest was played with a running clock in the fourth quarter as part of the NIAA 40-point mercy rule.
"We did some good things," Peters said. "We came out and ran the offense and played good defense. It was just nice to get back and play a game on our home floor."
All 13 players scored for the Buckaroos with Naveran leading the way with 16 points. The junior added four rebounds and two steals. Josh Watterson joined him in double figures with 10 points to go with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Dusty Bryan added six points and four rebounds, Delane Black and Christian Gray had five points apiece, Calvin Connors and Nate Eldodt four each, Josh Shaver three and Sterling Dennis, Tytus Millikan, Tanner Lecumberry and Justin Albright two each. Connors added a team-high five assists.
It was much of the same on Saturday afternoon, as the Buckaroos held the Wolverines to 13 points in the first half and led by as many as 34 points before winning by 24 points.
"What we should have done is sit a 3-2 zone and not let them drive and do what they do," Peters said. "But we need to work on things.
We need to learn to guard guys and make them do this or this. It's not about beating Truckee by 40."
Bryan netted the first six points of the game and Naveran and Dennis added baskets to put the Buckaroos up 10-0. The Wolverines scored its first point of the day with a free throw with nearly six minutes gone in the first quarter.
Leading 15-10 midway through the second quarter, Lowry finished the first half on a 15-3 run, which was started by a 3-point field goal by Lecumberry. Millikan also added two buckets as the Buckaroos went into halftime with a 30-13 lead.
Lowry continued to build its advantage in the second half, limiting its turnovers to just five. The Buckaroos led by 27 points at the end of the third quarter and were up 64-30 in the fourth, before the Wolverines finished the game on a 14-4 run. Gray had 10 of his team-high 13 points in the fourth quarter.
"I liked how we spread the ball around," added the coach. "I though Josh and Garrett did a good job. We had to put Christian down in the post and he did some good things for us. He moved well without the ball, made some good cuts and got some easy baskets. We are still trying to get guys used to playing with each other. These were the first back-to-back games Delane has played."
Bryan and Watterson joined Gray in double figures with 10 points each. Watterson also contributed nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Naveran added nine points, four rebounds and four steals, Millikan had seven points, Connors six, Black five, Lecumberry four and Dennis and Shaver two each.
Lowry is back at home this weekend to play Fernley on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Churchill County on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
"We are not anywhere close to where we want to be," Peters said. Where not even close to where I think we should be. We are solid right now. I am excited that we can play in a couple games like we did and fix things on the run and not against each other. Practices can get dull when you are going against each other all the time. We have to get good playing time with our younger kids."
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