BATTLE MOUNTAIN - It wasn't the Lowry High School junior varsity boys basketball team on the floor Friday in Battle Mountain that fans have been accustomed to.
The Buckaroos found themselves in a fight to the end with the Longhorns, just days after a big win over rival Elko.
Battle Mountain outscored Lowry in three of the four quarters, but the Buckaroos used a 24-9 run in the second period to secure a 61-51 victory in the Ruby Mountain League.
"We go from allowing teams to score in the low 30s and high 20s in the last three games to giving up 51 tonight," said LHS head coach Jeff Rinas. "I am not sure what happened to us. I am not sure if the kids thought they just could come in and breeze through the game because it's Battle Mountain. I warned them that we were playing a good team."
The first eight minutes of action saw four different lead changes, with Lowry taking the biggest advantage at 9-4 on a bucket by Roberto Sanchez. The sophomore scored eight of his 23 points in the first quarter.
Battle Mountain freshman Blake Dorian did his best to keep his team in the game, collecting nine points in the opening quarter, including a 3-point field goal. Tristan Hanyon added four points - with two free throws at the end of the first period to give the Longhorns a 15-14 lead.
Hanyon knocked down a shot to begin the second period, but it was all Lowry after that.
Christian Gray converted a 3-point play the next time down the floor to tie the game and Sanchez added four points of his own to put the Buckaroos up for good at 21-17. Leading 25-21, Lowry closed out the first half on a 13-3 run, with 11 of those points coming from Gray and Sanchez. The duo scored the first 21 points of the second quarter, when Omar Guerrero put back a shot at the end of the half to put Lowry out in front at 38-24.
"A lot of those points came off rebounds and missed shots," Rinas said. "We didn't run our offense very well, but we had guys getting offensive rebounds and putting the ball back in the basket. We had more offensive rebounds than defensive rebounds. It was good that we were working hard to get rebounds."
Gray connected on a jump shot at the start of the third period to give Lowry its largest lead of the day at 40-26, but the Buckaroos couldn't keep the momentum going.
Dorian nailed another 3-point field goal to start a 13-4 run for Battle Mountain to close the gap to seven points. Dorian scored seven points in the third period and Worth Nelson and Hanyon also added baskets to bring Battle Mountain to within striking distance.
The Buckaroos (14-2 overall, 7-0 Division I-A, 2-0 Ruby Mountain), solidified the victory on a 3-point field by Guerrero with 1:58 to play that made the score 57-45.
"I am hoping this game is a reality check for the guys," Rinas said. "I am fine when we lose to Galena and Douglas and we go out and play hard against those bigger schools. We just went out against Battle Mountain and did enough to win. We have to be excited to play."
Gray and Guerrero also reached double figures for the Buckaroos, scoring 18 and 10 points, respectively. Sterling Dennis added four points and Thomas Schwartz, Andy Mendoza and Chris Tyree had two points apiece.
Dorian netted 24 points for Battle Mountain and Hanyon added 16.
Lowry is back at home today to face Spring Creek at 4:30 p.m. in a Division I-A and Ruby Mountain League matchup.
Friday, Jan. 18
(At Battle Mountain)
Lowry 61, Battle Mountain
Lowry 14 24 10 13 - 61
B. Mtn. 15 9 13 14 - 51
LOWRY (61) (14-2, 7-0, 2-0)
Sterling Dennis 1 2-2 4; Omar Guerrero 4 0-0 10; Thomas Schwartz 1 0-0 2; Christian Gray 8 1-3 18; Roberto Sanchez 9 5-7 23; Andy Mendoza 1 0-0 2; Chris Tyree 1 0-0 2. Totals: 25 8-12 61. 3-point field goals: Omar Guerrero 2, Christian Gray.
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