There is a lot of work still to do, but the Lowry High School girls basketball team can mark off at least one item on their checklist.
The defending Division I-A state champion finished off a perfect 16-0 record in league play last weekend with wins at Spring Creek and Elko. The Lady Bucks dominated the Spartans on Friday, Feb. 13, leading by as many as 30 points, before settling for a 43-26 win. Lowry scored the first 13 points of the contest against Elko and went on to beat the Indians 56-47.
Lowry extended its win streak to 16 games and improved to 21-4 overall and 16-0 in the Division I-A North.
"We came out and played well at the start of both games and got nice leads," said LHS coach Chelsea Cabatbat. "It's a tough way to end the season when you have to play back-to-back nights against Spring Creek and Elko, but we handled it well."
Against Spring Creek, Lowry used its pressure defense to cause a number of turnovers by the Spartans. That translated into a number of easy baskets. The Lady Bucks jumped out to a 12-0 lead and Spring Creek nearly went scoreless in the first eight minutes, except for a 3-point play by Maddy Merschel with 1.9 seconds on the clock.
"Our press worked well and we were able to pressure the ball," Cabatbat said. "We did nice work and forced turnovers and got easy layups and buckets. I was proud of the girls, when the layups weren't there, they were executing offensively, which we have been struggling with. It was nice to see us slow and go inside and outside. We need to do a better job of getting our posts involved. We only shot three free throws, so we need to start attacking the basket."
Lowry led 20-10 at halftime, but the defense was key again, as Spring Creek went scoreless for the first five minutes of the third quarter. The Lady Bucks built their advantage to 36-14 at the end of the third quarter and added the first seven points of the fourth quarter to lead 43-14. The Spartans scored the final 12 points to cut the margin under 20 points. Merschel scored 19 of Spring Creek's 26 points.
The Lady Bucks had eight players score, but no one had more than eight points. Kylee McClellan had a team-high eight points, Shelby McKinnon seven, Jasmine Marchand five and Jillian Albright and Payton Naveran four each. Caitlynn Cooper and Alyssa Dendary two each.
Lowry returned to the site Saturday of it last league loss at the hands of Elko on Jan. 14, 2014. Since then, the Lady Bucks have won 25 consecutive Division I-A North games and continued with a 56-47 triumph over the Indians.
Lowry spoiled Elko's Senior Night with a near-carbon copy of the start the two teams had earlier in the year in Winnemucca. Behind the hot outside shooting of Dendary, the Lady Bucks raced out to a 13-0 lead and held a 15-4 advantage after eight minutes of play.
"It is always a tough environment to play in," said the coach. "It was their senior day and there was not an empty seat in the place. It was a playoff atmosphere. We just came out swinging and were playing great. Our shots were falling and hitting easy buckets. We were working hard and everyone was in the right spots at the right time. The girls step up in these big games."
Lowry maintained a double-digit lead into halftime and the Lady Bucks kept the Indians at bay with Dendary hitting a 3-pointer to start the quarter and Meg Montero added a basket.
Elko rallied to cut the margin to 39-31 late in the third quarter, but Lowry answered back with a 3-point play and scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to go in front 49-32. The Lady Bucks were never threatened from that point, settling for the nine-point win.
"It was a fun game and the girls were sore afterward, because it was physical," Cabatbat said. "We are peaking at the right time. There were definitely a few things we needed to clean and we have."
Dendary led all scorers with 20 points, as the senior knocked down four 3-point field goals. McClellan added eight points, Alyssa Jones six, Cooper five, Marchand and McKinnon four each, Albright three and Hayley Hall, Montero and Naveran two each.
Lowry will look to defend its regional championship when it travels to Fallon this weekend. The Lady Bucks face Spring Creek tonight at 6:20 p.m. Elko plays Churchill County at 3 p.m. The two winners will play in the title game on Saturday at noon and they will advance to the NIAA State Championships, the following week in Las Vegas.
"We have to continue to play well," Cabatbat said. "We can't take anything for granted. We just need to be ready to play. Spring Creek is a well coached team and Holly (Miller) knows what she is doing. Hopefully, we can come out and execute. The other two games don't matter. This one done. If we lose, we are done."
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