WINNEMUCCA - Even though the Lowry High School varsity boys basketball team has nine seniors on its squad this year, head coach Chad Peters was worried about how to fill the void of the three graduating seniors from a year ago.
The coach would find out about his team quickly, as the Buckaroos hosted Reno this past Saturday night in Winnemucca. The Huskies beat the Buckaroos last year and are considered one of the top teams in the Division I North this season.
Reno jumped out to a 17-11 lead after a quarter of play, but it was all Lowry from there. The Buckaroos scored the final 10 points of the first half and went on to win 50-43, holding the Huskies to 26 points in the final three quarters.
"My thing was I wanted to see who was going to step and fill the shoes of those guys that graduated," Peters said. "We didn't just have one guy contribute and play well tonight. We had a bunch of guys. We were just figuring things out in that first quarter and just getting up and down the floor. I thought we did a nice job of getting things done in the final three quarters. We held them to 26 points in the last three quarters. If you do that you are going to win some games."
The two schools traded the lead in the first eight minutes of play, with Lowry scoring five consecutive points to take a 9-6 advantage. Nate Eldodt made a layup and Josh Watterson connected on a 3-point field goal.
Reno battled back with an 11-2 run on the strength of three 3-point field goals to take a 17-11 lead after the first quarter. Those were the only 3-point field goals of the game for Reno, who finished 3-of-22 from behind the 3-point line. The Huskies had a tough night shooting, making just 27 percent of their shots.
"Reno is a good team and they had to travel out here," Peters said. "It's the first time they played on our rims and backboards. I am glad we played them on Nov. 30 instead of mid-February for a regional championship. That team will win a lot of games. I just thought we did a good job to create problems for them."
The momentum shifted for good as Lowry scored the final 10 points of the second quarter, turning a four-point deficit to a six-point advantage. Garrett Naveran started the run with a short jumper and Watterson followed with a 22-foot shot to put the Buckaroos up a point at 25-24. Naveran converted an old-fashioned 3-point play late in the first half and Watterson closed out the run with a pair of free throws to give Lowry a 30-24 lead at halftime.
Naveran finished the night with 19 points, including shooting 8-of-8 from the free throw line, and Watterson had 15 points.
"Those two guys played well," added the coach. "Garrett played strong inside and Reno had trouble stopping him. He has matured so much and is finally healthy."
Lowry scored the first six points of the third quarter to finish off a 16-0 run, with buckets from Watterson and Josh Shaver. Reno did not score its first points of the second half until the 3:52 mark of the third quarter. Naveran added two buckets near the end of the third quarter to push the advantage to 13 points, when the Huskies scored the final four points of the third quarter to cut the margin to nine at 40-31.
Lowry led by as many as 11 points at 46-35 with 3:23 left in the game, only to see Reno cut the gap to 48-43 with 19 seconds to play, but the Huskies could not get no closer.
"We got a little sloppy at the end and didn't play smart," Peters said. "That is the kind of stuff that is going to hurt us at the end of games against other teams. But, I am not going to go crazy on that. The main thing is we played well tonight."
Shaver added seven points for the Buckaroos, Calvin Connors and Christian Gray each had three points and Eldodt two.
Lowry continues a tough stretch of games with a three-day tournament starting on Thursday in Las Vegas, hosted by Legacy. The Buckaroos play Arbor View on Thursday at 8 p.m. Arbor View reached the semifinals of the Division I South Sunset Regional Championships last year.
The Buckaroos play Southern, a school out of Australia, on Friday at 3:30 p.m. and AUBD 2, another Australia school, on Saturday at 9 a.m. Lowry will play a second game on Saturday at a time to be determined.
Right now, I am pleased but not comfortable," Peters said. "We are right on track and maybe a little ahead. Our short-term goal is to have fun and do the best we can in the next two tournaments. Our next goal starts on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21. That goal is to win our league. We want to win our league. The last time I checked, we lost to Elko three times last year. I don't want that to happen again. I want us to give them a run."[[In-content Ad]]
