The Lowry High School girls basketball team took another step toward clinching the Division I-A North regular season championship for a second consecutive year.
The Lady Bucks began a four-game home stand this past weekend with a 61-21 win over Sparks on Friday and a 51-27 victory against Truckee. Lowry is currently on a 12-game winning streak and the Lady Bucks have won their last 21 games in league play, dating back to last year.
"We got what we needed out of the weekend," said LHS coach Chelsea Cabatbat. "The starters didn't get a lot of minutes, but we showed we are 12-deep with our team. It was a good opportunity for the girls coming off the bench to get a lot of minutes."
Lowry (12-0 Division I-A North, 17-4 overall), scored 17 of the final 19 points of the first quarter to build a 15-point advantage. The Lady Bucks picked up a balanced scoring attack from Jasmine Marchand, Jillian Albright, Alyssa Dendary, Shelby McKinnon and Payton Naveran in the first eight minutes.
The Lady Bucks put the contest out of reach in the second quarter on the strength of a 15-1 run. The Railroaders went without a field goal for the final 10 minutes of the first half. Naveran and Hayley Hall combined for 10 points in the second quarter and Dendary also knocked down a 3-point shot.
"We got right after at the start and that is good to see," Cabatbat said. "We still missed a lot of easy layups though and we need to make those. We were also 4-of-13 from the free throw line. We need to fix that or it will cost us later in the season against a good team."
Lowry used its defensive pressure out of the gate in the third quarter to go on a 14-2 run and lead 48-7 with 4:24 left in the quarter. The game was played with a running clock from there. Sparks had a number of turnovers due to the Lowry pressure.
Back-to-back baskets by Alyssa Jones and Caitlynn Cooper gave the Lady Bucks their largest lead of the night at 58-16.
Naveran finished with a double-double on the night with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Dendary had 13 points, five rebounds, five steals and two assists.
Hall had nine points and five rebounds and Kylee McClellan and Cooper each had five points. McClellan also had a strong night with 10 assists and five steals. Albright contributed six points, Marchand and Jones had four points apiece, with Marchand grabbing 10 rebounds. Chelsea Herrera scored three points and McKinnon two.
It was much of the same Saturday afternoon as Lowry raced out to a 21-5 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Lady Bucks opened up a 29-12 lead at halftime with a 14-3 run in the third quarter to take a 43-15 advantage.
"We are doing some good things and I like that we are getting the ball up the floor quickly," Cabatbat said. "We still need to get better, but I don't was us to be peaking yet."
Ten players for the Lady Bucks scored, with Dendary leading the way at 11. Cooper and Marchand each had eight points, McKinnon six, Albright, McClellan and Naveran four each and Jones, Hall and Herrera had two points apiece.
Lowry still holds a two-game lead in the Division I-A North over Churchill County and Elko, who are both 10-2. With two wins this weekend, Lowry can clinch at least the No. 2 seed. Spring Creek and South Tahoe are battling for the final playoff berth.
The Lady Bucks close out their home slate of games this weekend, beginning Friday against Fernley at 6 p.m. Churchill County visits for a 1 p.m. tip on Saturday.
"We have a couple of big games ahead us and we have to be ready to play," Cabatbat said. "We have to concentrate on Fernley before we can look to Fallon. We have to keep getting better. We have to cut down on the turnovers and communicate on the floor better. If we put the work in, we can be rally good team here in a couple of weeks."
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