WINNEMUCCA - Just as the season came to an end, the Lowry High School junior varsity boys basketball began to click on offense.
The Buckaroos closed out the year last week with three wins, beginning with a dominating 63-36 performance at Spring Creek on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Lowry returned home on Friday, Feb. 8, and destroyed White Pine 63-13 and in the season finale scored a season high in points to beat West Wendover 81-38.
"We came out and got after it right away in each of the games," said LHS head coach Jeff Rinas. "It took all year, but we finally figured it out on offense. I just wish it could have happened a bit earlier. I was happy with our defensive performance. We played great defense all year."
The Buckaroos finished the season at 22-2 overall, 10-0 in Division I-A and 10-0 in the Ruby Mountain League. Lowry won its final 14 games, after losing twice in the State Farm Classic in Reno in December. Lowry's only losses this year were to Galena and Douglas of the Division I North.
Christian Gray (10) and Sterling Dennis (4) combined for 14 points in the first quarter versus Spring Creek as Lowry jumped out to a 19-11 advantage.
The Buckaroos built a double-digit lead at halftime and broke the contest open with a 16-2 run in the third quarter. Dennis and Gray each netted six points in the period, while Omar Guerrero and Roberto Sanchez added buckets as well.
"We were able to do some different things that we had worked on in practice," Rinas said. "We went out there and had some fun. We took care of the ball and only had 11 turnovers. I will take that every time. When you hold a team to 36 points, you are going to win most of them."
Leading by 31 points in the fourth quarter, the Buckaroos cruised to the victory as Spring Creek outscored Lowry 14-10.
Gray led all scorers with 22 points, while Dennis joined him in double figures with 12. Guerrero added seven points, Josh Rose six, Dawson Cassinelli and Luke Logan four each and Chris Tyree two.
The matchup with White Pine was over eight minutes into the game as the Buckaroos outscored the Bobcats 24-2. Gray collected 10 of the points, Dennis had six and Sanchez and Guerrero each nailed two baskets.
White Pine made just five field goals in the game and did not score more than four points in any quarter. The Buckaroos led 49-9 after three quarters and the game was played with a running clock from there.
"White Pine is down and I felt bad for them," added the coach. "Everyone picked up a lot of minutes and we did our best to keep the score down. I was happy with how we spread the scoring around."
Gray outscored White Pine by himself with 22 points and Guerrero also reached double digits with 10. Sanchez finished with nine points, Jacob Von Aspern and Dennis six each, Rose three, Thomas Schwartz and Cassinelli two each and Tyree one.
Lowry saved its best offensive performance for last, scoring 81 points in the finale against West Wendover. The Buckaroos netted 26 points in the first quarter and 25 in the third.
"West Wendover was missing one of its best players, but my guys came out on fire," Rinas said. "It was one of our best overall performances of the year. It was fun to watch them play. The kids executed the game plan well."
The Buckaroos used five different players to build a 26-10 advantage in the first quarter and Lowry never looked back. Leading 43-22 at halftime, the Buckaroos put an exclamation point on the day, outscoring the Wolverines 25-7 in the third quarter.
Gray closed out the year with his third consecutive 20-point game, finishing with 23. Guerrero (13), Dennis (12) and Cassinelli (10) joined him in double figures. Sanchez scored eight, Kyle Tarr six, Tyree four Rose and Von Aspern two each and Andy Mendoza one.
"Overall, it was a good group of kids to coach and I had a lot of fun," Rinas said. "They worked hard and hopefully they learn from this. The kids went on a heck of a run since Christmas. They need to keep working on their game and need to be ready to fight for a spot on the varsity team next year."
[[In-content Ad]]
