WINNEMUCCA - The last time the Lowry High School varsity boys basketball team and Elko got together was in the Division I-A state championship game at Lawlor Events Center in Reno.
On that February night, the Buckaroos knocked off the Indians to claim its 11th title after losing the first two regular season contests to their long-time rival.
The two northern Nevada powers were back on the floor Tuesday night in Winnemucca in front of a capacity crowd at Lowry High School. Following a 52-42 loss to the Indians, the Buckaroos are going to have to take the same route as they did a season ago.
"We were a lot more aggressive in the second half," said LHS head coach Chad Peters. "We actually played some defense and did some things. We just let them push us around in the first half. They were the aggressor. When we attacked, we attacked too far. Or we didn't attack - we just threw the ball around."
Both teams take pride in their defenses, but it was Elko that took control of the game in the first half. The Indians held the Buckaroos to two points in the first five minutes of the opening period and Lowry went scoreless for the first five minutes of the second quarter to trail 17-6.
"Elko did a good job of taking Jesse (Studebaker) and Josh (Watterson) out of the game early," Peters said. "It took us a half to figure them out. I really wanted to be upset over the way we played in the first half. We will watch film and make some adjustments. We know this is a team we will see a few more times. The one thing we tried to do is talk about last year at the beginning of the game. It's time for us to turn the page on last year and begin a new chapter. Last year is last year. Now we have to see what we can do and get after it a bit."
Studebaker and Watterson scored 10 of Lowry's 14 first-half points, which was the lowest output for the Buckaroos this year. After Elko netted 12 of the games 14 points, Lowry cut the deficit to six at 20-14 late in the first half. The Buckaroos got no closer as the Indians scored the final six points of the half.
Calvin Connors and Josh Shaver knocked down 3-point field goals in the early portion of the third quarter to make the score 32-22. Watterson added a 3-point shot of his own and Tytus Millikan followed with a 3-point play the old fashioned way to bring Lowry within eight points, at 38-30 with 40 seconds left in the third period.
"I thought Calvin played a really nice game," added the coach. "He is quick and quicker than everyone on the floor and he proved that. He got us into things in the second half. Tytus played very well in the second half and made a nice little run for us. He got us a couple of steals and buckets. We need to be that aggressive all the time. We can't wait until we are down by 10 points in the second half and get after it."
Lowry (11-4 overall, 6-1 Division I-A, 0-1 Ruby Mountain) climbed within nine points of Elko on several occasions in the fourth quarter but could not close the gap.
Watterson led Lowry with 14 points, Connors added nine, Millikan and Shaver each had five, Studebaker four, Garrett Naveran three and Tanner Lecumberry two.
"That was a good loss tonight," Peters said. "That was a hard-fought loss. If you play bad like we did and lose by 10 to a team like that it is OK. They made us play bad. We didn't play bad on our own you have to give Elko credit for that."
Lowry makes the short trip to Battle Mountain tonight for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff with the Longhorns.
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