With all the snow on the ground in northern Nevada, the Lowry High School boys basketball team escaped the cold weather for sunnier pastures at the Tri-State Holiday Classic in Las Vegas earlier this week.
Through the first two days of the tournament, the Buckaroos were 1-3 in their four games.
Lowry knocks off Kingman
In Lowry’s opening game of the tournament on Tuesday morning, Lowry held off Kingman, Ariz., 44-20 to pick up its second win of the season.
The advantage changed hands a number of times in the first eight minutes, with the Buckaroos going in front 6-3 on a runner by Jed Teichert. Aided by a couple of turnovers, the Bulldogs netted the next five points, when the run was ended by Darian Solis.
Lowry tied the game at 10 at the start of the second quarter, but could not jump in front, as the two teams traded baskets. Kingman went into the break with an 18-16 lead.
The Buckaroos began the third quarter on fire with eight straight points to go in front 24-18 and did not trail again. A pair of buckets by Brendan Domire and two free throws by Dominic Solis sealed the victory for Lowry in the fourth quarter.
Lowry falls to Desert Oasis
Lowry took on host Desert Oasis in its second game on Tuesday and lost 62-46. The Diamondbacks led by as many as eight points in the first quarter, but Teichert hit a 3-point shot near the end of the opening period to cut the deficit to 14-5. The senior had five of the Buckaroos’ nine points in the first quarter.
Baskets by Joe Taylor and Kobe Stoker kept the Buckaroos within striking distance midway through the second quarter, but the Diamondbacks used a 10-2 run to pull away with a14-point lead.
Desert Oasis led by 14 points at the end of the third quarter and used small run to build a 62-37 advantage in the fourth quarter, before Lowry netted the final nine points of the contest.
Miners knock off Buckaroos
In Lowry’s final game of pool play on Wednesday morning, the Buckaroos suffered a 43-35 loss to Sunrise Mountain. The Miners built a 14-9 lead in the first quarter and held the advantage the rest of the way.
The margin reached double figures in the second half, but Lowry’s rally was too late in the fourth quarter. The Buckaroos outscored the Miners 15-8 in the final eight minutes.
Dominic Solis and Darian Solis led Lowry with eight and six points, respectively. Domire and Taylor each had four points and Dylan Kalkoske, Teichert, Riley Sakurada and Stoker each had two points.
Spring Valley beats Lowry
In bracket play on Wednesday night, Lowry dropped a 64-40 decision to Spring Valley. Spring Valley, who moved back to the 4A this year, jumped out to a 17-7 lead in the first quarter and put the game out of reach in the second quarter with a 27-13 run to lead 43-20 at the break.
Dominic Solis had a team-high 11 points, Taylor added seven, Darian Solis six, Ren Mattson and Stoker each had five and Dorsey Naveran four.
Lowry (0-3 Northern 3A, 2-11 overall) took on Cibola (Yuma, Ariz.) on Thursday morning and lost 55-43 in the tournament finale.
The Buckaroos hit the road again on Tuesday with a 7:30 p.m. tip at rival Elko to restart Northern 3A play.
