WINNEMUCCA -A little more 11 than months ago, the Lowry High School varsity boys basketball team was finishing off a 15-point victory over Boulder City at Reno High School on its way to winning its 11th state championship in school history.
Turn the clocks ahead to this past Saturday, and the Buckaroos were back at Reno High School, this time to take on the Huskies of the Division I North.
Reno scored 17 points in the first quarter and led by as many as 15 points, before settling for the 61-55 victory over Lowry.
With the defeat, the Buckaroos dropped to 7-3 overall, while remaining 2-0 in the Division I-A North.
The matchup was added at the last minute to help Lowry, which would have had a three-week gap in games. The Buckaroos were playing their first game in 14 days and had just two practices in the seven days prior to the non-conference contest with the Huskies.
"Giving up 17 points in the first quarter hurt us," said LHS head coach Chad Peters. "We were down by 15 at one time in the second half and were able to cut it to one. We used so much energy coming back. We just ran out of gas at the end. We are out of shape with the break and have not had that many practices. For the most part I was happy. It was well worth the trip playing there. I thank Reno for letting us play them; they didn't have to do this. I would rather go to Reno and struggle and lose to them, instead of going to Fernley and not play for three weeks and struggle and possibly lose a league game. It was a smart move by us."
Lowry senior Jesse Studebaker scored 30 points in the loss, including 20 in the second half.
"Jesse had a really nice game," Peters said. "His play is contagious. He dove to the ground for the ball on one play and afterward you see other guys doing that. Reno could not stop him."
Garrett Naveran and Studebaker combined for 10 of Lowry's 15 points in the first quarter. Calvin Connors added a 3-point bucket and Josh Shaver collected a basket as the Buckaroos trailed by two points after the first eight minutes of play.
Reno took advantage of Lowry turnovers late in the first half and went on a six-point run to take a 31-23 advantage at halftime.
"We didn't take care of the ball at the end of the first half and that hurt us," added the coach. "Reno scored a lot of points on layups because we had a tough time getting back on defense."
Studebaker nearly outscored Reno by himself in the third quarter with 10 points. Tytus Millikan added a 3-point shot as the Buckaroos outscored the Huskies 13-12 and were able to cut the gap to seven points.
Studebaker continued his stellar night with 10 more points in the fourth quarter. Shaver added five points of his own, including a 3-point field goal to cut the Reno deficit even more.
Lowry was without Connors at the end of the game. He fouled out as the Buckaroos were forced to foul the Huskies late in the game.
Shaver and Millikan added seven points apiece for the Buckaroos. Naveran added four points, Connors three and Tyler Brumm and Chris Dendary each had two points.
"Losing this game does not hurt us," said the coach. "Reno is playing well right now and they did a good job of attacking us. For us to be 7-3 with the teams we have played, I am OK with that. We are 2-0 in league and both of those were on the road. That is the only thing that matters."
Lowry steps back into Division I-A play on Friday at Fernley with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff. The Buckaroos return home on Saturday to play on their new floor against Churchill County at 3:30 p.m.
"We got the kinks out of the way," Peters said. "If we can get back to how we were playing defense against Sparks and Truckee, we will be OK. It will be nice to get back into a routine. We haven't been in our gym in a month, but we have a great new floor to come back and play on. We need to get back in our gym and do our stuff."
Saturday, Dec. 29
(At Reno)
Reno 61, Lowry 55
Lowry 15 8 13 19 - 55
Reno 17 14 12 18 - 61
LOWRY (55) (7-3, 2-0)
Josh Shaver 3 0-0 7; Tytus Millikan 2 2-2 7; Calvin Connors 1 0-0 3; Tyler Brumm 1 0-0 2; Chris Dendary 1 0-0 2; Jesse Studebaker 15 0-0 30; Garrett Naveran 2 0-2 4. Totals: 25 2-4 55. 3-point field goals: Josh Shaver, Tytus Millikan, Calvin Connors. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Calvin Connors.
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