BATTLE MOUNTAIN - Coming off one of its best games of the year in a narrow defeat to state runner-up and rival Elko just three days earlier, the Lowry High School varsity girls basketball team experienced a hangover on Friday night in Battle Mountain.
The Lady Bucks (5-11 overall, 3-4 Division I-A, 0-2 Ruby Mountain) scored seven of the game's first nine points and led by a point entering the fourth quarter, only to see the Lady Longhorns rally in the final eight minutes to stun Lowry 48-45.
Carli Evatz nailed a 3-point field goal to begin the contest and freshman Payton Naveran added four points to put Lowry in front 7-2. Naveran went on to score a season-high 12 points for the Lady Bucks.
Battle Mountain senior Abbie Mikelson kept her squad within striking distance, scoring eight points in the first quarter and keeping the deficit at two points.
Naveran, who stands 6 feet tall, put the Lady Bucks back in front with four points at the start of the second quarter, answering baskets by Battle Mountain's Caitlyn Warwood and Mikelson.
With three minutes left in the first half, Kylee McClellan connected on a short jump shot to put the Lady Bucks up 20-16 and forcing the Lady Longhorns to call a timeout.
Battle Mountain answered the call out of the break in the action, outscoring Lowry 9-2 in the final three minutes of the second period to lead 25-22 at halftime. Four of those points came from Gabby Penola and the final blow came on a shot by Mikelson at the buzzer.
The Lady Bucks fell behind by five points at the start of the third period, but picked up five consecutive points from sophomore Alyssa Dendary, a 3-point field goal by Evatz and a bucket by Naveran to complete a 10-2 run and put Lowry back in front at 32-29. After going scoreless for nearly four minutes, Warwood cut the Lowry deficit to a point with a bucket as time expired in the third period.
Mikelson put Battle Mountain in front with a basket to start the fourth quarter and the Lady Longhorns did not trail again.
Lowry's Alyssa Jones made 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game at 33-33, but Battle Mountain bounced back with a 3-point field goal by Amanda Wallock and a basket by Mikelson to take a 40-35 advantage.
Lowry did not go away as sophomore Shelby McKinnon scored seven points in the last two minutes of the game, including two 3-point field goals. Her last long-distance shot closed the gap to 47-45 with 36 seconds to play.
On the following possession, Battle Mountain's Kelsey Kroll made 1-of-2 free throws to take the advantage back to three points with 10 seconds to play, giving Lowry one last chance to send the game into overtime. However, instead of getting a 3-point shot off, the Lady Bucks drove the length of the floor for a layup, which was missed, giving the Lady Longhorns the victory.
McKinnon joined Naveran in double figures with 10 points, Evatz added seven, McClellan six, Dendary five, Taylor Schwartz four and Jones one.
Lowry is back on its home floor on Tuesday night to face Spring Creek, the defending Division I-A state champion, at 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 18
(At Battle Mountain)
Battle Mountain 48, Lowry 45
Lowry 14 8 10 13 - 45
B. Mtn. 12 13 6 17 - 48
LOWRY (45) (5-11, 3-4, 0-2)
Shelby McKinnon 4 0-0 10; Alyssa Jones 0 1-2 1; Carli Evatz 2 1-2 7; Kylee McClellan 3 0-0 6; Alyssa Dendary 2 1-4 5; Taylor Schwartz 1 2-2 4; Payton Naveran 6 0-0 12. Totals: 18 5-10 45. 3-point field goals: Shelby McKinnon 2, Carli Evatz 2.
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