Right now there is a lid on the basket for the Lowry High School boys basketball team and it seems not even dynamite can blow the top off of it.
The Buckaroos dropped its second consecutive league game on their home floor, losing 49-29 to South Tahoe on Saturday afternoon in Winnemucca. Lowry dropped to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in the Northern 3A.
“I love how our team works hard,” said LHS coach Chad Peters. “We are just in a funk offensively. We can’t score and can’t make basket. We have to fix us and stop worrying about everyone else. Right now, we have a mental block about missing shots. Its like in golf when you have the shanks. We have the shanks and it is affecting everything we do. Somehow we need to get back to scoring points. We aren’t going to beat anybody scoring 29 points.”
South Tahoe was not much better on offense either, as the game went more than four minutes without a point top start. The Vikings knocked down a 3-pointer at the 3:30 mark of the first quarter for the first points of the day.
It took Lowry nearly six minutes to make its first field goal, which was by Scottie Smith to make the score 5-4 South Tahoe. Oscar Juanes made a 3-pointer with :05 left in the first quarter, only to see South Tahoe hustle down the floor and make a 30 foot shot at the buzzer to lead 10-7.
The Vikings increased their advantage to 16-7 with the first six points of the second quarter. The Buckaroos scored their first points with 4:05 left in the first half on pair of free throws by Dorsey Naveran. Kobe Stoker gave Lowry its first field goal two minutes late with an old-fashioned 3-point play that made the score 20-12.
Lowry rallied in the final minute of the first half with buckets by Domonick Solis and Brendan Domire to cut the deficit to 23-17 at halftime. The Buckaroos picked up three quick baskets from Naveran and Stoker in the third quarter to trim the lead to 29-23 and force the Vikings to take a timeout.
Juanes made his second 3-pointer of the day to bring Lowry within five points at 31-26 with 4:17 left in the third quarter but South Tahoe closed out the quarter on an 11-2 run, including a layup at the buzzer after a steal.
Lowry was held without a field goal in the fourth quarter and its only point was a free throw by Naveran. The Vikings outscored the Buckaroos 7-1 in the final eight minutes of the contest.
“I am very proud of how hard we worked to the very end,” said the coach. “We played 32 minutes as hard as we could — everyone from top to bottom. Somehow we have to get out of this funk.”
Stoker led Lowry with nine points, Naveran added seven and Juanes had six points. Domire scored four and Solis three.
“I thought Dorsey played awesome,” Peters said. “He did not back down to (Macallan) Castles. He played physical and did a good job on Castles. He did not hurt us.”
Lowry will look for its first league win this weekend on the road. The Buckaroos play in Sparks on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and in Truckee on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
