FALLON - If you are fan or parent of the Lowry High School boys basketball team, the Buckaroos are certainly keeping you on the edge of your seat.
That was the case this past weekend as Lowry came from behind both days to beat Fernley 63-51 on Friday and Churchill County 44-40 on Saturday. The Buckaroos are now 6-0 in the Division I-A North and 11-5 overall.
"The bottom line, it was two wins on the road and we are 6-0 in league," said LHS coach Chad Peters. "We are 4-0 on the road and we are undefeated halfway through our road schedule, which is awesome. Right now, I don't care about the margin we are winning by. It means nothing."
Lowry used a pair of baskets by Christian Gray in the first period to lead 7-4 in the physical contest that lasted throughout. The Buckaroos used a spurt in the second quarter to take a 10-point advantage at 20-10.
Trailing 11-8, Churchill County was called for a charging foul that wiped off a basket that could have tied the game with a free throw. Omar Guerrero followed with a 3-point field goal, Garrett Naveran and a running shot and Guerrero made another basket to provide the 10-point cushion. Churchill County came back with the last four points of the second quarter to cut the deficit to six at halftime.
"We did some good things in the first half," Peters said. "It was a physical game and the officials were letting us play. It was one of the roughest games we have been in all season."
The Buckaroos looked to be in control of the game after two 3-point shots by Guerrero and a jump shot by Thomas Schwartz made the score 32-21 in the third quarter.
Lowry maintained that 11-point advantage in the fourth quarter on two separate occasions after a bucket by Jared Taylor and two free throws by Naveran. It turned out the field goal by Taylor would be the only one of the fourth quarter for Lowry.
The Buckaroos led by 11 points with with six minutes to play, but went a stretch of five minutes with scoring just one point. In that stretch, Lowry had a handful of missed shots and turnovers that led to a 13-1 run and a 40-39 lead with 1:21 to play.
After calling a timeout, Lowry righted the ship and went back in front 41-40 with 60 seconds to play on two free throws by Gray. Churchill County came back down the floor and turned the ball over and fouled Sterling Dennis. Dennis knocked down both free throws with 23 seconds to play. The Greenwave had one final chance to tie the game, but missed the shot and were forced to foul again. This time, Nathan Lutzow made 1-of-2 shots from the line with 11 seconds to seal the victory. Churchill County went the 81 seconds without a point.
"We did some things to help them out," Peters said. "The big thing was that we withstood the run, gathered ourselves and came back. Thank God we made free throws down the stretch. We never panicked. We had some good mental focus late, which was nice to see. When you hold a good team like Fallon to 40 points, you are doing a good job. I thought Jacob (Von Aspern) came in and gave us great minutes in the first half. I was pleased with him."
Guerrero had a team-high 15 points, Gray added eight, Naveran six, Lutzow five, Taylor four and Dennis, Von Aspern and Thomas Schwartz two each.
Lowry traveled to Fernley and used a strong second half to come away with a 63-51 win. The Vaqueros used a 19-14 run in the second quarter to go in front 32-27 at the break, but the Buckaroos were able to answer.
Lowry doubled up Fernley 16-8 in the third quarter and held the advantage from there. Leading 47-45 early in the fourth quarter, the Buckaroos outscored the Vaqueros 16-6 the rest of the way.
"We are doing the things we need to do to get wins right now," Peters said. "At this point in the season, a win is a win and we don't do point watching. We know that we are going to get everyone's best game and we are fine with that."
Gray had his best game of the year with 23 points, while Naveran joined him in double figures with 12 points. Both seniors also added nine rebounds. Dennis contributed eight points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal. Taylor, Guerrero and Lutzow each had six points and Schwartz had two.
Lowry is back at home tonight to host Elko in battle for first place in the Division I-A North. The Indians are currently 7-0 in league play.
"It's going to be a big challenge for us," Peters said. "I just want us to go out there and play hard and compete. Hopefully, it's the first of three match-ups between us. If that happens, that means we are probably going to the state tournament."[[In-content Ad]]
