WINNEMUCCA - After opening the season with three home games, Interstate 80 has been a familiar road for the Lowry High School varsity girls basketball team in the month of December.
The Lady Bucks (3-7 overall, 1-1 Division I-A) finished off a stretch of seven road contests in 15 days at McQueen High School in Reno on Friday, Dec. 21.
Lowry started slowly on offense in the first and third quarters and was not able to overcome the deficit in the 52-39 loss to the Lancers.
"McQueen was a better team than I thought they were," said LHS head coach Jack Smith. "They were quick; one of the quickest teams we have seen all year. Their speed forced us out of our press. Their style of play reminds me of Spring Creek. They like to run the floor and get a lot of transition baskets. It was good for us to see that for when we play Spring Creek."
McQueen doubled the point output of Lowry in the opening quarter to grab a 10-5 advantage. The Lady Bucks found their shooting touch in the second quarter and were able to cut the Lancer margin to three points, 23-20 at halftime.
However, the third quarter was near mirror image of the first, with McQueen scoring 10 of the 14 points in the period.
"We dug ourselves too big of a hole in the first and third quarters," Smith said. "We ran our half-court offense well in the second and fourth quarters and were able to hit our shots."
Lowry picked up the offensive pace once again in the final eight minutes of play, scoring, 15 points, but it was not enough to pull off the come-from-behind victory.
Alyssa Jones paced the Lady Bucks with 13 points, while Alyssa Dendary and Taylor Schwartz added eight points apiece. Carli Evatz scored four points and Kylee McClellan, Payton Naveran and Rachel Sigurdson had two points apiece.
Lowry is off this weekend and returns to action on Friday, Jan. 4, to face Fernley in a Division I-A matchup. The Lady Bucks are back at home on Saturday, Jan. 5, to play Churchill County. It will be Lowry's first game in its home gym this season. The Lady Bucks played their first three games of the year at the Winnemucca Event Center.
"These are big games for us," Smith said. "You have to start fighting for playoff positioning right away. Fernley is tough to play at their place and Churchill County is a very physical team. They are two teams in the middle of the pack in our league."
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