If fans missed the football meeting between Lowry High School and Elko this past fall, they were offered an encore performance in Winnemucca on Tuesday.
However, the sport was not football but a girls basketball game between two rivals that do not like each other very much, with the top spot in the Division I-A North at stake.
The Lady Bucks (7-0 Division I-A North, 11-4 overall) provided the early punch in the form of 23 points in the first quarter, en route to a 57-52 win over the Indians.
"We got off to a hot start and it was something that we needed," said LHS coach Chelsea Cabatbat. "We came out and played like we are capable of. There are still things we need to work on. We didn't handle the pressure well at times and the girls need to know where we are at in the game and slow down when we need to."
Alyssa Dendary provided the spark for Lowry in the first quarter with 14 points. The senior knocked down three 3-point field goals and scored the first 11 points of the game for the Lady Bucks, who led 11-3.
Jasmine Marchand and Jillian Albright also knocked down baskets for Lowry, and Dendary hit the final two baskets of the quarter for Lowry, pushing the advantage to 20-7.
"Alyssa is capable of doing that on any given night," Cabatbat said. "When she finds that touch, she is not going to miss many shots."
Lowry continued to control the pace of the game, with Chelsea Herrera and Meg Montero making baskets to keep the lead in double figures. Midway through the second quarter, Dendary was fouled on a 3-point field goal attempt and she made all three free throws to give Lowry its largest lead of the night at 32-17.
Elko did not go away and scored the final seven points of the first half to cut the deficit to 32-24 at halftime.
"We let them back in the game a couple times," said the coach. "There is a fine line between running and being out of control and forcing things. We need to get better at staying in control."
For the most part the teams traded buckets in the third quarter, with Jasmine Marchand and Payton Naveran combining for eight points in the quarter.
"They played tough inside for us in a physical game," Cabatbat said. "Payton has come on strong in the last couple of weeks."
Elko trimmed the margin to 51-45 with 3:47 left to play and had a chance to further cut the Lowry lead, but the Indians missed three of four free throws. Caitlynn Cooper made a free throw and Kylee McClellan added a layup to keep the lead eight points and Elko never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
Dendary finished with a game-high 21 points, while Naveran joined her in double figures at 10. Albright and Marchand each scored six points, Montero five, Herrera and McClellan four each and Cooper one.
Lowry closes out its first half of the Division I-A North schedule tonight against Spring Creek at 6 p.m.
The Lady Bucks are the only undefeated team left in the Division I-A North.
The Indians are now in second place at 7-1. Churchill County is third at 4-2 and South Tahoe and Spring Creek are tied for fourth at 4-3.
The top four teams advance to the regional tournament.
"For right now it's just another win for us," Cabatbat. "I am proud of my girls. We have to continue improve and build toward are goal. We have to be ready for Spring Creek when they come here on Friday."[[In-content Ad]]
