With home games throughout the month of January, the Lowry High School boys basketball team was looking to dig itself out of an early hole in the Northern 3A standings.
After dropping four league games in a row, the Buckaroos have bounced back with two victories in its last three games, including Friday night at home against Dayton. Lowry used a strong defensive effort to knock off the Dust Devils 44-33.
“It wasn’t pretty like we are used to,” said LHS coach Chad Peters. “Dayton is used to slowing up the game and keeping the game in the 30s and 40s. They are like us, they have to keep the score low if they want to get a win.”
After getting the opening bucket from Joe Taylor, the Buckaroos saw the Dust Devils score seven of the next nine points to grab an early three-point advantage.
That was short-lived, as Lowry went on an 8-0 run, with the first six points by sophomore Dorsey Naveran. Taylor and Naveran combined for 10 of the Buckaroos’ 12 points in the first eight minutes of action.
“I thought Joe gave us some good minutes tonight,” Peters said. “He played hard on defense.”
The lead changed hands six different times in the second quarter, as the two squads traded baskets and could not pull away from each other. A basket by Taylor at the end of the first half gave Lowry an 18-17 lead at the break, and the Buckaroos did not trail again.
A turning point came midway through the third quarter, when Lowry extended the margin to 24-20 following a technical foul by Dayton. The Buckaroos made those two free throws, but had other chances from the charity stripe and could not convert. Lowry missed three free throws in the third quarter and 10 in the game.
“We were horrible from the free throw line tonight,” Peters said. “The thing is we shoot them great in practice. I think we just tightened up a little bit. This was just our fourth win. I don’t care what anyone says, we have to get used to winning. We are not used to. We are not used to holding a lead. The thing is we held on and did not give the game away.”
Lowry picked up buckets from Naveran and Brendan Domire to start a 5-0 run at the beginning of the fourth quarter to go in front 33-24 with 5:10 to play.
The Buckaroos saw a 35-26 advantage drop to 36-32 after missing four of five free throws down the stretch. Leading by four points with 1:13 to go, Naveran missed two free throws, but the sophomore got his own rebound off the second missed and was fouled again. This time, he made both foul shots to seal the deal. Naveran and Taylor also connected on free throws in the final seconds to preserve the win.
Taylor (13), Domire (11) and Naveran (10) combined for 34 off the 44 points for Lowry. Jed Teichert added eight points.
“We are showing a little more maturity,” said the coach. “We let games get away against Fallon and Spring Creek and ended up losing. We didn’t let Dayton come back. We could easily be 4-2 in league, but we are not. We just have to battle from here on out.”
Lowry falls to South Tahoe
Lowry closed out the weekend on Saturday afternoon with a 68-45 loss to South Tahoe. With Elko losing to Fernley a couple weeks ago, the Vikings hold the top spot in the Northern 3A.
“We knew coming in it was going to be a tough game,” Peters said. “To me, South Tahoe is probably the best team in the league.”
The Vikings jumped out to an 18-12 lead in the first quarter, and built on the advantage the rest of the way. The margin grew to double-digits at halftime, and South Tahoe closed out the game on a 22-11 run in the final eight minutes of play.
Lowry (2-5 Northern 3A, 4-13 overall) holds the sixth and final the for the regional tournament, which will be held Feb. 16-18 in Winnemucca. South Tahoe is first at 5-0, with Elko second at 5-1. Fernley (5-2), Spring Creek (4-2) and Churchill County (5-3) round out the top five.
Lowry is back home this weekend to play Churchill County on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Fernley on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
The Buckaroos' run of seven straight home games continues on Tuesday versus Truckee at 7:30 p.m. The Wolverines are tied for seventh place with Dayton at 1-4 in the Northern 3A.
“We took another couple steps on the ladder,” Peters said. “We haven’t at the bottom looking up in a long time. It’s like shark week, where teams see blood in the water and Lowry at the bottom of the standings. We are going to get everyone’s A game, because this is the year that they think they can get us. We have to start playing with confidence and composure. We are taking baby steps right now.”
