WINNEMUCCA - As Division I-A action opened up last weekend, the Lowry High School varsity girls basketball team had a chance to a throw a wrench into the standings right away.
The Lady Bucks (3-6 overall, 1-1 Division I-A) initiated their league schedule on Friday, Dec. 14, with a decisive 46-26 win at Sparks.
Lowry made its way up the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Saturday to face Truckee in a crucial conference matchup. The Wolverines have an experienced group of players back and are considered one of the top three teams in the Division I-A North. Truckee used a strong second quarter to earn a 39-31 win over Lowry.
"I was wary of us playing down a bit against Sparks and we did," said LHS head coach Jack Smith. "We looked good in the first quarter and it seemed we could steal the ball just about every time off the press. When I called the press off, we lost all of our momentum. We played well against a Truckee team that is pretty experienced. They have five all-league players that are back from last year and we played them right to the end. You always want to win every game, but I was not disappointed with our performance."
Taylor Schwartz and Carli Evatz combined for 10 points in the first quarter and Alyssa Dendary added a 3-point field goal to help Lowry take a 13-2 lead against Sparks.
After struggling on offense in the first six minutes of play, the Railroaders connected on three 3-point field goals in the second period, cutting the Lady Bucks' advantage to nine points at halftime.
Lowry's defense stood its ground in the second half, holding Sparks to three field goals in the final 16 minutes of the game.
"They were hitting their shots in the second quarter," Smith said. "I thought they might be getting lucky but they did the same thing against Fallon the next night. I put the press back on at the start of the third quarter and we were able to build the lead back up."
Schwartz and Evatz led the way for the Lady Bucks with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Dendary added six points, Alyssa Jones and Kylee McClellan five each and Jaecee Munger, Rachel Jones and Chandra Waner had two points apiece.
Against Truckee, Lowry used a pair of buckets by McClellan and Dendary and free throws by Shelby McKinnon and Dendary to take a slim 7-6 first quarter lead.
The Wolverines grabbed control of the contest with a 17-9 run in the second quarter and the Lady Bucks had to play from behind the rest of the way.
"We just didn't hit any shots in the second quarter," added the coach. "That turned out to be the difference. Still, I was happy with the way my young team came out in a tough environment and played. I was down a bit after the game, but when I woke up Sunday morning, I realized we did OK. It was a good building block for us, but it would have been nice to steal one there."
Lowry trimmed the Truckee lead to as little as four points late in the fourth quarter, but a missed shot with the chance to close the gap to two points turned into a rebound and a basket for the Wolverines.
Dendary and Schwartz netted eight and seven points, respectively, for Lowry. Payton Naveran and Evatz scored four points, McKinnon and Jones had three points apiece and McClellan two.
Lowry stepped out of league play on Wednesday, Dec. 11, with a trip to Reno to face North Valleys. The Panthers, a school in the Division I North, already had victories over Wooster and McQueen on the season.
Both squads found it tough sledding on offense in the first half, with the game tied at 13-13 at halftime. McClellan, Schwartz and Evatz each had four points in the first 16 minutes of play, while Alyssa Jones added a free throw.
North Valleys nearly equaled its first half total with 12 points in the third quarter to take a four-point advantage. The Panthers made the advantage stick in the fourth quarter, despite the Lady Bucks having chances to tie the game or go out in front.
"It's a game I thought we could win," Smith said. "I think they are a playoff team in Division I. Once again, we missed a lot of shots. If we raise our shooting percentage to just 20 percent, we will start winning some of these games."
McClellan and Schwartz led the way for Lowry with 12 and eight points, respectively. McKinnon, Alyssa Jones, Evatz and Dendary each had four points and Naveran two.
Lowry closes out the calendar year on Friday as it makes the trip back to Reno to play McQueen at 7 p.m.
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