WINNEMUCCA - It may be the beginning of January, but the Lowry High School varsity girls basketball team found itself in a pair of crucial league games this past weekend in Winnemucca.
With just four playoff spots up for grabs in late February in Elko, the Lady Bucks are in a position where every game is an important one. After splitting its first two Division I-A North match-ups in mid-December, Lowry returned to its home floor this past weekend to face Sparks and Truckee.
Sparks came into Friday's game with just one win on the season, but that was a 13-point victory over Dayton. The Lady Bucks struggled to beat the Dust Devils by five points in December.
Proving that is doesn't matter what another team wins by over an opponent, Lowry (7-7 overall, 3-1 Division I-A North) came out with a purpose and beat Sparks 58-9. The Railroaders did not score a point in the second half and the game was played with a running clock in the fourth quarter as part of the NIAA 40-point mercy rule.
The Lady Bucks jumped out to an 18-6 advantage in the first quarter and never looked back. The margin increased to 32-9 at halftime and Lowry finished the game with a 26-0 run in the second half.
Alyssa Dendary and Jillian Albright paced the Lady Bucks with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Dendary added five steals, four assists, four rebounds and three blocks, while Albright had three steals and two assists.
Shelby McKinnon netted nine points to go with two rebounds, two assists and two steals and Kylee McClellan and Jasmine Marchand each had six points. Payton Naveran scored five points and Meg Montero and Taylor Schwartz had four points and five rebounds apiece.
With the pod system still in place a season ago, Lowry played Truckee just one time with the Wolverines winning 39-31 in California. The Wolverines made their first trip back to Winnemucca since the 2009-10 season on Saturday and went back home with a 48-40 loss to the Lady Bucks.
The victory helped Lowry move into a second-place tie with Spring Creek in the Division I-A North at 3-1. Elko leads the league with a 4-0 record and Churchill County is fourth at 2-1.
Lowry and Truckee had a tough time finding the basket, with the game tied 4-4 after the first eight minutes of play. A jump shot by Albright from the top of the key propelled the Lady Bucks to an 8-0 run at the start of the second quarter. Alyssa Dendary followed with a free throw and Alyssa Jones knocked down a long jump shot and was fouled on the play and the junior completed the 3-point play. Dendary closed out the spurt with two more free throws, giving Lowry a 12-4 lead. The Lady Bucks went into the break with a 16-11 advantage after a late basket by Marchand.
With a couple minutes elapsed in the third quarter, Jones hit a pair of free throws to keep Lowry ahead 18-13, only to watch Truckee counter with eight straight points to go in front 21-18.
Following a Lady Bucks' timeout, Marchand stopped the run as she made a layup off an inbound play. The senior converted another inbound play and tied the game at 22-22 with 2:30 left in the third quarter.
The two schools traded free throws in their next possessions, when Lowry took the lead for good on layup by McKinnon. With 30 seconds left in the third quarter, Marchand added her sixth point and Jones went coast-to-coast just before time expired to put the Lady Bucks in front 30-26.
Lowry gave itself some breathing room with a 9-2 run to start the fourth quarter. Albright got the spurt going with a jump shot off a steal and Dendary followed with a short jumper of her own. Marchand and Naveran then made shots to put Lowry in front 39-28 with 4:25 to play.
With the help of three missed free throws by the Lady Bucks, the Wolverines cut the lead to 39-35 with 2:59 to play. A jump shot by Dendary ended the Truckee run and McClellan and Albright went 6-for-8 from the free throw line in the final 90 seconds to secure the win.
Marchand and Dendary each scored 10 points to pace the Lady Bucks. Albright and Jones added nine points apiece, Naveran six, and McClellan and McKinnon two each.
Lowry is back on its home floor on Friday and Saturday to play Fernley at 6 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.[[In-content Ad]]
