WINNEMUCCA - It wasn't the prettiest of victories, but the Lowry High School varsity boys basketball team was more than happy to leave Spring Creek with a 59-45 win.
The Buckaroos (17-5 overall, 8-2 Division I-A, 6-2 Ruby Mountain) made their second trip to Elko County on a weekday in as many weeks and struggled at times, with different looks to their lineup.
"We had a tough time getting going the whole night," said LHS head coach Chad Peters. "We had one starter (Josh Watterson) miss practice on Monday and we didn't start him. (Tytus) Millikan missed all of last week and is getting back into shape after being sick. We are used to being in a system, and we have gotten away from that the last couple of weeks and have been out of sync. We just need to get back to where we were and we will be OK."
Calvin Connors had one of his best nights of the year as the junior scored 23 points and dished out six assists. Connors was 7-of-9 from the 3-point line.
"Calvin played very well," Peters said. "For a guy to go 7-of-9 from the 3-point line and still have six assists, he is doing something right on the floor. He passed up a couple of shots and was in foul trouble. Other guys are benefiting from his play. If you are the opposing team, you have to account for him."
Lowry jumped out to a 21-8 lead in the first quarter and held the advantage the rest of the night. Spring Creek closed the gap to 10 points at halftime and as little as seven in the third quarter but couldn't get any closer.
"The weekday games tend to wear on you," added the coach. "You basically get a half of day of practice on Monday and have to travel on Tuesday. It's hard to get motivated to play. Plus, Spring Creek has improved and they have a ton to play for. They had to beat us to avoid playing Elko or ourselves in the playoffs. They were playing for their season."
Lowry stretched its advantage back out to near 20 points at the end of the game. Spring Creek made a couple of last-second shots, including a 3-point field goal for the final outcome.
"We didn't play well, but the game was never in doubt," Peters said.
Jesse Studebaker added 12 points and six rebounds and Watterson had eight points, four rebounds and two blocks. Garrett Naveran finished with seven points and six rebounds, Chris Dendary had four points and five rebounds and Millikan and Tyler Brumm had three and two points, respectively.
"I felt Chris did a good job," Peters said. "We started him in place of Josh and he did a fabulous job. He got us a bunch of rebounds and gave us some great minutes."
Lowry closes out the regular season this weekend at home, starting with White Pine tonight at 7:30 p.m. and West Wendover on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
The Buckaroos begin their run at the state championship next week when they host Truckee in the opening round of the Division I-A North Regional Championships on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
If Lowry wins they will play in the semifinals on Friday, Feb. 15, at Wooster High School in Reno at 4:40 p.m. against an opponent to be determined. The championship game is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16.
The top two teams advance to the NIAA State Basketball Championships on Friday, Feb. 22, and Saturday, Feb. 23, in Las Vegas.
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