When Mother Nature throws you a curve at this time of the year, it is usually in the form of snow. However, a fierce wind and dust storm on Friday threw a wrench in to the Lowry High School boys basketball team schedule.
The Buckaroos were supposed to host Fernley on Friday and celebrate Winterfest. But due to high winds, the Vaqueros could not make the trip to Winnemucca, which postponed the contest. Instead of a fun night of celebrating, Lowry went to work practicing until about 8 p.m. to get ready for Churchill County the next night.
Whatever Lowry did on Friday night worked like a charm as the Buckaroos used a 25-6 run on Saturday afternoon in the first quarter to beat Churchill County 60-23.
"It was the ultimate trap game for us after having the Fernley game canceled," said LHS coach Chad Peters. "Winterfest week is always tough to start out with. On a night you are supposed to have fun and celebrate, we were in a gym getting ready for a Saturday game. That is 100 percent those kids, buying in hard work and effort. We played extremely smart from the opening tip and made shots. When you do that, it feeds you.
"You know what, how awesome is Winnemucca? We cancel a Friday night game and Winterfest and move it to Saturday. That was the most amazing Saturday energy we have had here in a long time. That was a crowd for an Elko game on a Friday night. As the coach, from the community and school, the support we get, never ceases to amaze me. I told the kids before the game to give the crowd what we (coaches) see in practice every night. They went out there and did that tonight. I could not be more proud of them."
Lowry turned in a dominant performance on defense, outscoring Churchill County for the game in the first quarter. Behind the hot outside shooting from Christian Gray, the Buckaroos jumped out to a 12-0 lead. Gray equaled the total of the Greenwave with 23 points and was 9-of-13 from the field, including 5-of-9 from the 3-point line.
Leading 14-4, the Buckaroos scored nine quick points off of two 3-point shots by Gray and another from Omar Guerrero. Lowry eventually led 25-6 after eight minutes of play and never looked back. Churchill County's offensive struggles lasted all night, scoring no more than seven points in a quarter.
"We held a pretty good basketball team to 23 points," Peters said. "Our goal is to hold teams to 10 point or less in every quarter and they scored seven or less. You just don't see that. It helps that we did some good things on offense as well. It was nice to see us have some energy and have fun. Garrett (Naveran) is back and he was a monster. It was fun to see Nathan (Lutzow) going through the lane and getting to the basket. He was flying across the key getting a rebound. He went over the back but I don't care, it was nice to see him do that."
Lowry led 32-13 at halftime and continued to build its advantage with a 13-4 run in the third quarter. The rout continued in the final eight minutes, as Lowry held Churchill County to just 10 points in the second half and the margin nearly grew to 40 points.
Sterling Dennis and Guerrero also reached double figures with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Lutzow had six points and Naveran five.
"I told the boys I watched a special on Mike Krzyzewski (Duke coach) before we played and he said the best thing about coaching at Duke isn't that they are a good team, but where they play and the community and student body support they have created," Peters said. "I feel the same way here at Lowry. There isn't a place or high school gym in America where I would rather be than in Winnemucca. It's because of the community, student body and administration.
"This program was here way before I was, but it's our job as coaches to instill that tradition. When the guys played like they did tonight and put on the show they did and beat a team like we did, it sent a huge message to our JV and freshmen teams and to the little kids watching. We have all been there. Everyone watches that class above them. I told my guys they are doing that for the next group of kids in the stands. That is the beautiful thing we have in Winnemucca. Right now, our guys are so unselfish and I am proud of them. I am so proud of these guys."
Lowry hosts Fernley tonight at 7:30 p.m. and closes out the regular season on the road at Spring Creek on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Elko on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Buckaroos are assured of either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed for the regional tournament in Fallon.
"If we continue what we did tonight, we are going to surprise some people," Peter said. "All I know is that this win was about 12 guys in a gym on Friday night, working their butt off to get a win today and that is awesome."
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