WINNEMUCCA - By the time this past Saturday rolled around, one basketball team at Lowry High School had not had the opportunity to play in front of its home crowd.
After playing its first 11 games of the season on the road, the Lowry JV girls hit the gym floor at the high school for the first time and came away with a 39-31 victory over Churchill County.
The Greenwave had no answer for Buckaroo freshman Jillian Albright as she scored a game-high 19 points, including seven in the fourth quarter.
A basket by Chelsea Herrera put Lowry up 6-4 midway through the first quarter, when Churchill County went on an 8-0 run that extended into the second period and gave the Greenwave a 12-6 advantage.
Herrera ended the run with a pair of free throws and Lowry picked up baskets from Sierra Thiede, Herrera and four more points by Albright to tie the game at 16-16 at halftime.
The Lady Bucks (9-3 overall, 4-0 Division I-A) scored the first four points of the third quarter to grab a four-point lead, but the advantage would change hands six different times as both team continually traded baskets.
Lowry grabbed the lead at 29-25 late in the third quarter and didn't relinquish it again. Churchill County cut the margin to two points with four minutes to play when Albright scored five of Lowry's last six points of the game to hold off the Greenwave.
Herrera added eight points for the Lady Bucks, Thiede seven and Dani Ricker and Hayley Hall two each.
When Lowry and Fernley met up in the opening game of the season in Lovelock, the Lady Bucks ran away with a 28-3 victory. When the two teams met up in Fernley on Friday it was a much different matchup.
The Lady Bucks picked up six points from Herrera in the first quarter as the freshman went on to finish with a game-high 17 points. Albright added four points in the first eight minutes of play, helping the Lady Bucks to a 12-6 advantage.
Lowry led by 10 points at halftime and by as many as 15 points in the second half before settling for the seven-point win.
Albright added nine points, Thiede four and Jasmine Anicker, Brianna Behrens and Ricker two each.
During the Christmas break Lowry made its way to North Valleys High School in Reno for the State Farm Invitational and went 1-3 in four games.
Lowry opened up with Ukiah, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 27, and lost 52-17 to the eventual tournament champions. Later on the same day the Lady Bucks faced Bishop Manogue and were defeated 36-31 by the Miners.
Lowry had little trouble with Dayton on Friday, Dec. 28, winning 46-12 over the Dust Devils. The Lady Bucks closed out the tournament with a 33-30 loss to Truckee on Saturday, Dec. 29.
Ukiah used a 15-2 run in the second quarter to pull out to a 26-8 lead at halftime. The Lady Bucks found it tough going on offense, scoring six points or fewer in every quarter.
Herrera led Lowry with six points, Albright and Thiede added four points apiece and Anicker two.
The matchup with Bishop Manogue was much closer but Lowry was just 3-of-11 from the free throw line contributing to the defeat. The Lady Bucks held a two-point lead over the Miners at the start of the second quarter but Bishop Manogue rallied for a two-point advantage at halftime.
Lowry cut the deficit to three points in the fourth quarter only to see the Miners make four free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
Herrera led all scorers with 14 points, Maddie Mayo added six, Thiede and Anicker four each, Albright two and Ricker one.
Every Lowry player scored in the win over Dayton, with Albright leading the way with 11 points.
Albright scored seven of those points in the first quarter as the Lady Bucks raced out to a 15-0 lead. The Lady Bucks grew the advantage to 34-6 by the end of the third quarter.
Anicker added eight points, Ricker six, Thiede five, Katie Tyree four, Shaylee Robertson and Hall three each and Estefany Espinoza, Mayo and Herrera two each.
In the tournament finale, Lowry and Truckee found it tough going offensively as the teams combined for 17 points in the first half with the Wolverines leading 10-7.
Truckee extended the lead to five points at the start of the fourth quarter and went on to earn the win and avenge earlier loss to Lowry.
Herrera and Albright scored seven and five points, respectively, while Mayo and Thiede added four points apiece. Ricker and Anicker scored three points apiece and Hall had two points.
Lowry returns to the floor on Friday to face Dayton at 3 p.m. in a Division I-A North match up. The Lady Bucks hit the road once again on Saturday to face South Tahoe at noon.
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