In what has been an unusual season for the Lowry High School boys basketball team, turned to the weird side on Tuesday night in Winnemucca.
With three minutes to play in its Northern 3A game against Truckee, the fire alarm went off in the gym. A motor in the heating unit burned up causing minor smoke near the duct.
The gym was evacuated, as personnel from the Winnemucca Volunteer Fire Department arrived at the scene. On a good note, there were already a handful of firemen at the game.
After about a 20-minute delay, the remainder of the game was played in the auxiliary gym, with the Buckaroos escaping with a 50-39 win.
“It wasn’t pretty, it was a crazy night but it is a win,” said LHS head coach Chad Peters. “We played really, really, really bad for 29 minutes tonight. We had a nice three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter that won the game for us. We did just enough to get the win."
Both squads struggled all night on offense, with Lowry making just one field goal in the first quarter — a short jump shot by Joe Taylor.
It wasn’t much better for Truckee, who converted just two baskets from the field in the first eight minutes of play. The Wolverines went scoreless for the final 5:06 of the first quarter.
Lowry used a 3-pointer by Brendan Domire to cap off a 6-0 run and take its first lead of the night at 11-8 with 3:31 remaining in the first half. The rally was short-lived, as the Wolverines responded with a 10-2 run to take a five-point lead. Truckee eventually went to the halftime break up 18-14.
Lowry battled back to go back in front halfway through the third quarter at 21-20 after a pair of free throws by Brady Lange. The Buckaroos had troubles making free throws in the first half, but converted down the stretch when they needed to. Still, Lowry was 25-of-45 from the charity stripe on the night.
Truckee knocked down a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter, and take a 29-26 lead. However, that is where the tables turned. Before the fire alarm went off, the Buckaroos went on a 13-0 run to lead 42-29.
Dorsey Naveran had six points in the spurt and Taylor four. After scoring just 26 points through three quarter, Lowry outscored Truckee 24-13 in the final eight minutes.
“Those three minutes were huge for us,” Peters said. “We took care of the ball and we ran our stuff and were patient. After not being able to make a free throw, we made them when we needed to. We work on them all the time in practice and its frustrating to miss that many. Getting that run done before the fire alarm was huge. Just imagine if it was a tie game, and having to go down to the other gym and finish. That would have favored Truckee.”
Lowry (4-6 Northern 3A, 6-14 overall) are in the sixth and final playoff spot for the Northern 3A Regional Tournament. The tourney will be played at the Winnemucca Event Center from Feb. 16-18.
Elko leads the league at 8-1, while South Tahoe and Fernley are tied for second at 7-2. Spring Creek (6-3) is fourth and Churchill County (5-6) is fifth.
Lowry has the weekend off and hosts Spring Creek on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The Buckaroos face a tough stretch with a road game at South Tahoe and Elko visits on Feb. 7.
“We could not have afforded to lose this game tonight,” Peters said. “We have to get ready to play some good teams in the next couple weeks.”
