It took a little over 16 minutes to get going, but the Lowry High School girls basketball team was able to pull away from Pershing County on Tuesday night in Winnemucca for a 34-19 victory.
The Lady Mustangs, who finished as the Division III runner-up a season ago, slowed the pace in an attempt to keep the Lady Bucks, the reigning Division I-A state champion at bay.
"We struggled to get anything going," said LHS coach Chelsea Cabatbat. "Lovelock is a good team and they are quick. We don't match up well with them. They sat back in their offense, controlled the ball and there was not a lot of movement on our part. They took us out of our defensive game. Those are things we have to work on. I always want to see us work hard and I don't think we did that tonight."
Lowry used baskets from Jillian Albright, Shelby McKinnon and Chelsea Herrera to go on a 7-0 run and lead 9-2 in the first quarter. However, the Lady Bucks struggled on offense in the first half, missing a number of shots from close range.
Pershing County countered with a 10-2 run, picking up buckets from Bailey Wanner and Taryn Houston to go up 12-11. Hayley Hall made 1-of-2 free throws late in the first half to tie the game at 12 at the break. Lowry made just one field goal in the second quarter and that was a layup by Alyssa Jones.
After a sluggish start, the Lady Bucks came out quickly in the third quarter with an 8-0 run. Albright started the spurt, putting back her own miss and Jasmine Marchand added two buckets and McKinnon knocked down a short jump shot to make the score 20-12. Pershing County went more than five minutes without a point, coming out of halftime.
Lowry continued to increase the margin in the fourth quarter, using six consecutive points to lead 30-16. Payton Naveran had four of those points. Pershing County never got closer than 12 points, as the Lady Bucks held the Mustangs to seven points in the second half.
"We had a little more excitement in the second half, which was nice to see," Cabatbat said. "But, we have to bring that for a full four quarters. You have to give Lovelock credit, they came ready to play. They don't quit and I see them going far in their league."
Lowry (8-0 Division I-A North, 13-4 overall) had nine players score, with McKinnon and Naveran leading the way with six points apiece. Albright had five, Alyssa Dendary, Herrera and Marchand four each, Caitlynn Cooper and Jones had two apiece and Hall one.
Lowry, who has won eight games in a row and 13 of the last 14, are on the road this weekend. The Lady Bucks face South Tahoe tonight at 6 p.m. and Dayton on Saturday at 1 p.m.[[In-content Ad]]
