WINNEMUCCA - For 24 minutes on Tuesday night, the Lowry High School varsity girls basketball team looked poised to pull an upset of Elko, the undefeated leaders in the Ruby Mountain League.
The Lady Bucks (15-6 overall, 4-4 Ruby Mountain League) led 31-22 at halftime on a 3-point shot at the buzzer by Betsy Guerrero. Lowry continued the advantage into the fourth quarter at 39-33 but watched as Elko scored the first 14 points of the final period en route to a 53-47 win.
"We came out and played one of our best games for the first three quarters against a pretty good team," said LHS head coach Jack Smith. "We went cold in the fourth quarter and could not hit a shot. This loss really hurt and we are down a little bit. It was a great atmosphere with the crowd and now we have to get back up and get ready to close out the season."
After playing in back-to-back state championships, Lowry has now missed out on making the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
Lowry could not build on the momentum after Guerrero's 3-point field goal to end the first half, as Elko scored the first six points of the third quarter to cut the lead down to 31-28. The Lady Bucks put their first points of the second half on the board with 3:02 left in the third period on a jump shot by Guerrero. That quick started a 6-0 run that was followed by two baskets by Julia Dufurrena to push the Lowry lead back to 37-28. The Lady Bucks went into the fourth quarter with a six-point advantage after a basket by Madi Gonzalez.
Lowry went cold from the field from there, not scoring a point until there was three minutes left to play on a put back shot by Dufurrena that ended a 14-0 by Elko run, making the score 47-41. Thirty seconds later, Dufurrena converted a 3-point play to trim the deficit to 47-44 but that was as close as Lowry got, with Elko scoring the next six points to push the advantage to nine points at 53-44.
"We had about three crucial turnovers towards the end that hurt us," Smith said. "We had the shots at the end but just didn't make them. We are a couple of points and possessions from being in first or second place but we are on the outside looking in to the playoffs. The three best teams in the state are all in one pod but only two go to the playoffs."
Each team held three-point leads in the first quarter, with Dufurrena tying the game at 12-12. Lowry took a two-point advantage on its next possession. Kylee McClellan tied the game at 16-16 early in the second quarter, starting a 12-2 run that saw Lowry pull ahead at 26-18. Elko rallied to close the gap on a 3-point shot by Emma Sprout, but Guerrero raced back down the floor at the end of the first half to hit her 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Dufurrena and Guerrero paced the Lady Bucks with 19 and 12 points, respectively, with Gonzalez adding six. McClellan added four points and Angie Herrera, Carli Evatz and Taylor Johnson had two points apiece.
Lowry met up with a pair of 2A schools last weekend, beating Battle Mountain at home 63-20 on Friday, Feb. 3, and losing to Pershing County 67-49 on Saturday in Lovelock. The Lady Bucks handed the Lady Mustangs their only loss of the year earlier in the season, ending a 24-game winning streak.
Pershing County earned its revenge Saturday night, as Sarita Jo Condie scored 38 points in the win. The Lady Mustangs scored 20 or more points in each of the first three quarters in building a 61-41 lead.
"We were the only team to beat them this year and they wanted nothing more than to beat us," added the coach. "They had a big crowd for the game and they were hot from the field. Sarita could not miss a shot and she took over the game."
Dufurrena did her best to go basket for basket with Condie, finishing with 29 points. Gonzalez and Guerrero each had six points, Herrera four and Evatz and Johnson two apiece.
After suffering an overtime loss to Spring Creek just a few days earlier, Lowry took out its frustrations on Battle Mountain. The Lady Bucks scored 22 points in the first and third quarters on their way to build a 53-16 advantage.
The game was played with a running clock for the final three minutes after a free throw by Alyssa Dendary. Dufurrena and Gonzalez had 21 and 12 points, respectively. Evatz scored seven, Dendary five and Ere Higbee and Johnson two.
Lowry concludes its season with two home games, starting tonight against White Pine at 6 p.m. The season finale is Saturday afternoon against West Wendover at 2 p.m.
"We have two games left and we still have pride to play for," Smith said. "We want to finish the season with a couple of wins for the seniors."
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