Coming into last weekend, one major hurdle stood in front of the Lowry High School girls basketball team and a spot in the Division I-A North regional basketball tournament.
After crushing Sparks 55-22 on Friday, Lowry needed to complete the season sweep of Truckee on the Wolverines' home floor to stay in line for a playoff berth. The Lady Bucks did just that and more, routing the Wolverines 53-24 to win their fifth consecutive game.
If Lowry beats Fernley on Thursday and Truckee loses one of its games against Elko or Spring Creek this weekend, the Lady Bucks will clinch a playoff berth. Lowry is currently tied for third with Churchill County at 9-3. Elko (11-1) and Spring Creek (10-2) are first and second. Truckee is 6-6 and in fifth, while South Tahoe (4-8), Dayton (2-10), Fernley (2-10) and Sparks (1-11) have been eliminated from postseason contention.
Eleven of Lowry's 12 players got into the scorebook Friday at the Brickhouse in Sparks. The Lady Bucks (13-9 overall, 9-3 Division I-A North) held the Railroaders to single digits in every quarter.
Lowry led 11-5 after the first quarter and increased the advantage to 26-11 at halftime. The rout continued into the second half, as the Lady Bucks came out of the break with a 17-5 run and closed out the contest with a 12-3 spurt in the final eight minutes of play.
On the strength of two 3-point field goals, Alyssa Dendary paced Lowry with 10 points. Rachel Sigurdson scored a season-high eight points and Kylee McClellan and Taylor Schwartz added seven points apiece. Dani Ricker also had a season-high six points, Jillian Albright and Jasmine Marchand had five points apiece, Alyssa Jones, Shelby McKinnon and Payton Naveran two each and Meg Montero one.
What was thought to be a battle for a potential playoff spot quickly turned into a rout as Lowry outscored Truckee 14-1 in the first quarter and the Lady Bucks held the Wolverines to seven field goals on the day.
Lowry extended the margin to 25-9 at halftime and continued to pull away in the second half with 14 points apiece in the third and fourth quarters. It was the first win for the Lady Bucks at Truckee since 2010, the last year Lowry won the state championship.
Once again 11 players scored on the day, with Dendary leading the way with 11. Albright netted eight points, Montero, Naveran and Schwartz each had six. Sigurdson and McClellan each had four points and Jones, Marchand and Ricker two each.
Lowry makes its final regular season road trip of the year this weekend. The Lady Bucks face Fernley on Thursday at 6 p.m. and travel to Fallon on Saturday to face Churchill County at 2 p.m. In the first meeting in Winnemucca, the Lady Bucks led the Greenwave by five points in the fourth quarter before Churchill County closed out the game on a 15-6 run.[[In-content Ad]]
