WINNEMUCCA - The Lowry High School freshmen girls basketball team split a pair of crossover games with Lahontan League schools this past weekend.
The Lady Bucks (5-8, 2-1 Division I-A North) played on their home floor at the high school for the first time on Friday, Jan. 4, and came away with a 40-12 win over Fernley. Lowry hit the road on Saturday and lost 40-32 to Churchill County in Fallon.
"We are starting to play better," said LHS head coach Clay Sagers. "The girls are running the offense better and understand what they need to do to get better."
Lowry used a balanced scoring attack from six girls to build a 17-4 advantage in the first quarter against Fernley. Caitlynn Cooper had seven of those points, while Megan Villarreal added three.
The Lady Bucks increased the lead to 19 points at halftime after holding the Vaqueros scoreless in the second quarter. Kelsea Perkinson scored nine of her game-high 13 points in the second half as she outscored Fernley by herself.
Lowry's defense shined on the night, allowing just five field goals by Fernley.
Cooper added 11 points for the Lady Bucks, Villarreal five, Maggie Tyree four, Banesa Trigueros and Shauna Smith two each and Emalee Brown one.
The first and third quarters proved to be the difference in Lowry's loss to Churchill County. The Greenwave outscored the Lady Bucks 27-11 in the two quarters on their way to the 10-point victory.
Churchill County led 11-4 after a quarter of play, only to see Lowry cut the deficit to a point at halftime. The Greenwave came out of the break with a 16-7 run and the Lady Bucks couldn't recover from there.
Churchill County had trouble containing Cooper as she scored 19 of Lowry's 33 points to lead all scorers. Celeste Esquivel, Perkinson and Trigueros each had four points and Brown two.
While other teams had two weeks off during Christmas break, Lowry was not one of them. The team traveled to Reno at the end of December for the State Farm Invitational at North Valleys High School.
The Lady Bucks went 1-3 over the three days, beating Incline 35-2 in the tournament opener or Thursday, Dec. 27. Lowry met up with Reno later on the same day and lost 50-24 to the Huskies. The Lady Bucks bounced back on Friday, Dec. 28, and beat North Valleys 39-38, but lost their final game 30-20 to Churchill County on Saturday, Dec. 29.
"It was nice to play the bigger schools," Sagers said. "It made us a better team by playing them. It was better competition and was a chance to play teams we normally do not get a chance to."
Lowry nearly pitched a shutout in its opening game with Incline. The Highlanders made one basket in the opening quarter and did not score from there. The Lady Bucks used 10 points from Cooper and four more from Villarreal to build an 18-2 advantage.
Trigueros netted 10 of Lowry's 12 points in the third quarter to increase the lead to 30-2.
Cooper and Trigueros each scored 10 points to pace Lowry. Villarreal added four points, Shandra Smith three and Hayley Rolando, Maggie Tyree, Esquivel and Brown finished with two points apiece.
Reno doubled up Lowry in the first quarter 12-6, forcing the Lady Bucks to play from behind the rest of the way. The Huskies built on their advantage with a 14-6 run in the second quarter to lead 26-12 at halftime.
Esquivel and Cooper tallied eight points each, Shauna Smith, Villarreal and Rolando two each.
When Lowry and North Valleys met in mid-December in Reno, the Panthers recorded a 10-point win over the Lady Bucks. Lowry turned the tables in the second meeting, using a 15-7 run in the fourth quarter to squeak out the one-point win.
After scoring just two points in the third quarter and falling behind by seven points at 31-24, Esquivel netted six of her 11 points in the fourth quarter and Villarreal added four of her own to help the Lady Bucks come from behind.
Cooper finished with 15 points, including 13 in the first half. Trigueros scored six points, Villarreal four, Perkinson two and Brown one.
In the tournament finale, Lowry trailed Churchill County 10-9 after eight minutes of play, but the Lady Bucks went scoreless in the second quarter and could not overcome the deficit to the Greenwave.
Cooper led Lowry with 12 points, while Brown, Perkinson, Villarreal and Tyree had two points each.
Lowry travels to Dayton today to face the Dust Devils at 4 p.m. The Lady Bucks' scheduled game with South Tahoe on Saturday has been cancelled. The Vikings do not have a freshmen team this year.
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