After spending the first month of the season on the road, the Lowry High School boys basketball team was finally able to play a game on its home floor.
The young and shorthanded Buckaroo team suffered two, one-point losses during the stretch of seven games on the road, but fed off the excitement of the home crowd on Tuesday night in beating Reed 67-54.
“There was a lot of energy out there tonight,” said LHS coach Chad Peters. “We played very well. We got a lot of good minutes from our guys. I thought Dorsey (Naveran) and Joe (Taylor) did a nice job in the first half. With it being our first home game, the younger kids had that deer in the headlight look at the beginning. I challenged them at halftime ‘and told them no more excuses.’ They came out, settled down and played much better.”
Lowry (0-3 Northern 3A, 1-7 overall) never trailed in the game, scoring the first eight points, and holding Reed scoreless for nearly five minutes.
The Raiders were coming off a game the previous night at Bishop Manogue. Naveran had half of those eight points, while Taylor and Darian Solis each had a basket.
Reed connected on just two field goals in the first eight minutes, as Lowry ended the quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 16-5. Naveran and Taylor combined for 10 of the 16 points.
The offensive struggles continued for the Raiders, who made just one field goal in the first four and a half minutes of the second quarter. Dominic Solis and Taylor combined for eight points to start the quarter, to increase the Buckaroo advantage to 24-7.
After sputtering for most of the first half, Reed reeled off eight quick points to cut the deficit to 26-15, but Lowry’s Ren Mattson and Brayden Jensen connected on baskets at the end of the half to give Lowry a 30-17 lead at halftime.
Reed made it somewhat interesting early in the third quarter, cutting the margin to 32-23 with 5:52 left in the period.
That was as close as the Raiders got, with Taylor and Stoker and answering with an 8-0 run to push the advantage back to double figures at 40-25.
Taylor finished with a game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds. Fourteen of the points came in the second half.
Lowry held its largest lead of the night at 45-27 after a 3-point field goal by Naveran and a basket by Stoker.
“I don’t think people understand what it feels like to be 0-7 and continually getting better and losing one-point league games,” Peters said. “I am as proud of this more than the others in a long time. We knew it was probably going to be a tough December, but the guys are improving. We defended a lot better and we were smart tonight. We ran our stuff well. We took another baby step and that is all we need to do right now.”
Naveran and Teichert added 12 and 10 points, respectively, and Stoker finished with nine. Dominic Soils added six points and Mattson, Jensen and Darian Solis each had two points.
Lowry will be busy during the Christmas break, as it attends the Tri-State Holiday Classic at Desert Oasis High School in Las Vegas from Tuesday-Thursday. The Buckaroos are scheduled to play Kingman, Ariz., on Tuesday at 10:30 and Desert Oasis on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
Lowry takes on Sunrise Mountain on Wednesday at 8 a.m. The final two games will be determined by Lowry’s finish in pool play.
“We have to go to Vegas and be ready to play,” Peters said. “We need to continue to improve. Right now, we can not afford to take steps back.”
