When you have won 22 of your first 24 games there is not much one can find a fault in your performance.
The Lowry High School boys basketball team finds itself in that position after extending its winning streak to eight games last weekend.
The Buckaroos defeated Fernley 70-44 on Thursday and Churchill County 66-54 on Saturday to improve to 22-2 overall and 13-1 in the Division I-A North.
Despite the strong record, LHS coach Chad Peters would like to see his team improve in one aspect.
"Physically, we are not doing anything wrong on the floor," Peters said. "It's the mental game we need to get better. We do good things at times and make adjustments on the fly. There are other times where we just waiver mentally and we look like a computer with a virus in it. We just have to stay focused on what we are doing. We can't afford to take any time in big games."
That was not a problem Thursday as Lowry raced out to a 44-12 lead at halftime against Fernley. The Vaqueros managed just a handful of field goals in the first 16 minutes of play.
"We came out and got after it right away," Peters said. "We played some pretty good defense. We are 22-2 for a reason and we are a good team. We go in with the mentality every night that teams want to beat us because of who we are."
Lowry led by as many as 37 points in the second half, when many of the starters sat in the fourth quarter and Fernley closed out the game on a 20-13 run.
Twelve Buckaroos scored on the night with Josh Watterson (12) and Garrett Naveran (11) leading the way. Each player had five rebounds and Naveran added four steals.
Dusty Bryan contributed 10 points, Tytus Millikan eight, Christian Gray seven, Calvin Connors five, Nate Eldodt four, Tanner Lecumberry and Thomas Schwartz two each and Josh Shaver and Justin Albright had one point each.
"We have guys that are playing good right now," Peters said. "Tytus is playing well on the outside for us and Dusty is getting in there and playing well inside for us. Calvin is being much more aggressive the last few games and you see a change in his game. When he plays like that, we are a better team."
Lowry closed out its four-game road trip Saturday with a trip to Fallon. The Buckaroos jumped out to an 18-11 advantage in the first quarter and held on to the win.
"If they played liked that all the time, Churchill County is the third-best team in our league," Peters said. "They could be a challenge to a team if they are on. They are physical and athletic and we can't go inside as easy as we can against other teams."
The Buckaroos maintained the same seven-point lead at halftime, when they pulled away with a 22-13 run in the third quarter to put the contest out of reach.
"We have come out and played well in the third quarter all season," Peters said. "Besides the first three minutes of the game, the first four minutes of the third quarter is the most important part of the game. We have been slow starters for much of the year but we come out of halftime and ready to play. It shows the adjustments we make at halftime are working."
Naveran led all scorers with 24 points and was a rebound short of a double-double. Watterson joined him in double figures with 13 and 11.
"They could not stop Garrett," Peters said. "Garrett probably could have had 35 if he made all his shots. He just gets a little too quick at times."
Shaver added eight points, Bryan four and Delane Black and Millikan three each.
Lowry closes the regular season at home this weekend and will celebrate Winterfest week. The Buckaroos play Spring Creek on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Elko on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. If Lowry sweeps both games, it will clinch the league title.
"Our biggest game of the year is Friday against Spring Creek," Peters said. "We are not worrying about anything else except for them. It is a game where we are going to come and see if we are ready to play or not. We know we have Elko coming to town on Saturday and we will be ready to go for that one."[[In-content Ad]]
