The battle for supremacy in the Northern 3A was at stake on Friday night in Winnemucca and the Lowry High School girls basketball team and Churchill County did not disappoint the large crowd in attendance for Winterfest.
The two squads traded the lead throughout the night, with the Greenwave coming out on top 44-40 to hold on to first place in the league.
“We had our chances to win it,” said LHS head coach Chelsea Cabatbat. “We needed to take care of the ball better and make some shots. We missed a lot of easy baskets.”
The Lady Bucks jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead, as junior Alyssa Kuskie scored five of those, including a 3-pointer to start the action. The Greenwave did not score their first points until there was 4:14 left in the opening quarter.
Lowry also found itself in foul trouble, with leading scorer Sydney Connors on the bench with two fouls halfway through the first eight minutes of play. Junior Shelby Garrison stepped with two baskets late in the quarter to push the advantage back to four points at 10-6 and the Lady Bucks settled for a one-point lead after a quarter of play.
Churchill County went ahead for the first time, 90 seconds into the second quarter, but three free throws by Hannah Hillyer pushed Lowry back in front at 13-12 in the low-scoring affair. The two team traded baskets for the final few minutes of the first half, with Kenadee Jeppsen and Brooklyn Backus knocking down buckets to give Lowry a 17-16 lead at halftime.
After watching the Greenwave take a one-point lead early in the third quarter, the Lady Bucks went on a 10-2 run to go up 29-22. Hillyer started the spurt, scoring off an inbound play after a timeout, and Connors and Kepa Bengochea added the final six points on easy baskets near the rim.
Lowry had a chance to extend the margin to nine points, but missed a pair of free throws and did not score in the last 3:30 of the third quarter. Churchill County cut the deficit to a point after two 3-point field goals by Leilani Otuafi, including one at the buzzer.
The Greenwave erased the Lady Buckaroo lead, when Caitlyn Welch knocked down a shot from long distance on the opening possession of the first half to give Churchill County a 31-29 advantage.
The Greenwave capped off an 11-0 run to lead 33-29, but after a pair of free throws by Connors, the sophomore connected on a 3-pointer to put Lowry back on top at 34-33 with 5:40 to play. Moments later, Jeppsen hit a short shot to increase the gap to three points, but Otuafi nailed a 3-pointer the next time down the floor to tie the game.
With just over 90 seconds to play, Jeppsen tied the game at 38 with a basket. With just under a minute to play, it appeared Lowry might get the ball back on a charge call, but Connors was called for the foul, despite Otuafi dipping her shoulder and running into her.
Otuafi made 1-of-2 free throws to put Churchill County in front 41-40. Lowry turned the ball over on its next possession and the Greenwave answered with two free throws to go up 43-40 with 39 seconds to go. The Lady Bucks got a couple of looks at the basket but could not convert to tie the game.
“It was a good game,” Cabatbat said. “We will just have to learn from this in case we see them again.”
Connors and Jeppsen paced Lowry with 10 and nine points, respectively. Hillyer added six points, Kuskie five, Garrison four and Brooklyn Waller, Bengochea and Backus two each.
Lowry escapes with win over Fernley
It appeared Lowry was going to have an easy day on Saturday against Fernley, but that was the furthest from the truth. Despite grabbing an 11-2 lead, the Lady Bucks had to hold on for a 43-38 victory. Lowry improved to 7-2 in the Northern 3A and 15-3 overall.
“We just did not play well at all,” said the coach. “It seemed like we could not do anything. I think a lot of it was from the night before against Fallon. We used so much energy in that game. We could not get the easiest things done against Fernley.”
Lowry held Fernley without a field goal in the first quarter, on its way to an 11-2 advantage. Connors started the scoring with a pair of 3-pointers, and Waller also knocked down a long-distance shot.
It took the Vaqueros nearly 10 minutes to make their first field goal, but the Lady Bucks went ice cold as well in the second quarter. Jeppsen was the only player to make a field goal for Lowry in the second quarter. The Lady Bucks did not make a shot in the final 5:51 of the first half. Fernley came back with a 13-3 run to go in front 15-14 at halftime.
The cold streak ended for Lowry, as Waller began the second half with a 3-pointer to put Lowry back in front. However, Fernley answered back with an 8-0 run to lead by six points.
Connors took over from there, as the sophomore scored the final 11 points of the third quarter for the Lady Bucks. She finished the day with a game-high 22 points. Her run helped the Lady Bucks go back in front 28-24 with eight minutes to play.
Connors made it 14 points in a row, as she made a 3-pointer to begin the fourth quarter that bounced on the front of the rim and in the basket. Kuskie found her range as well with a 3-pointer to give Lowry a 34-28 lead with 6:00 to go.
The advantage proved not to be safe, as Fernley countered with a 10-2 run to go back in front 38-36 with 3:00 to go. Connors tied the game at 38 with 2:53 after two free throws, and Jeppsen put the Lady Bucks in front for good with a basket with 2:08 to play. Lowry finished the game on a 7-=0 run, and held Fernley scoreless for the final three minutes.
Backus added five points, Bengochea, Waller and Jeppsen each had four and Tiana Herrera and Hillyer each had two points.
Lowry was scheduled to host Truckee on Tuesday.The Lady Bucks are off this weekend and host Spring Creek this Tuesday at 6 p.m.
