ELKO — The hard part was accomplished for the Lowry High School girls basketball team on Friday night.
The Lady Bucks withstood the best challenge from Spring Creek to win 53-49 and advance to a fifth consecutive state tournament. In addition, Lowry is making its 13th appearance in the state championships since 2002.
Lowry will go into the state tournament as the No. 2 seed from the Northern 3A after losing the title game 66-40 to Churchill County on Saturday afternoon at Elko High School.
After giving up five of the first seven points to the Greenwave, the Lady Bucks jumped in front 6-5 after a pair of free throws by Sydney Connors and a jump shot by Kyllie Sappington.
The first quarter saw six ties and six lead changes as the two teams attempted to settle in. A 3-pointer by Sappington gave Lowry a 14-11 advantage only to see Churchill County answer back with five straight points to go back in front. Sappington added another bucket to tie the game after eight minutes of play. The senior had seven points in the first quarter.
Churchill County raced out on a 7-2 run in the second quarter to lead 23-18, scoring four of those points off Lowry turnovers and converting layups.
Following a timeout, Alyssa Kuskie knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to close the gap to 25-24 and Lowry had a couple of chances to back in front. However, a couple more turnovers led to the Greenwave scoring the final four points and they took a 29-25 lead into halftime.
Churchill County took that momentum and ran with it in the third quarter, scoring the first eight points in less than two minutes. The Greenwave built a 37-24 lead and the margin never dropped below double figures from there.
Sierra Maestrejuan stopped the run with a put back bucket but Churchill County continues to pressure on the Lady Bucks and scored the next nine points to push the gap to 45-26.
Lowry closed the gap to 15 points after two free throws by Connors and a layup from Hailey Fernandez, only to see Churchill County push the advantage to 51-33 at the end of the third quarter.
The Greenwave outscored the Lady Bucks 22-9 to take control of the contest.
Churchill County remained hot from the field and scored 15 of the first 20 points in the fourth quarter to lead by as many as 28 points and 66-38.
Sappington had 11 points for Lowry and Connors had eight. All eight of Connors’ points were from the free throw line. Kuskie netted seven points and Maestrejuan six.
Lowry knocks off
Spring Creek
Lowry played Spring Creek to end the regular season and beat the Spartans by 22 points in Spring Creek.
However, the third match-up looked like the first in Winnemucca, when the Spartans won in the final second son a free throw.
The Lady Bucks jumped out a 6-1 lead behind three points apiece from Connors and Maestrejuan. The Spartans’ first field goal came from a loose ball as Kaitlyn McLeod found Shaylynn Yaunick for a bunny on the weak side.
Lowry went up 12-6 on a 3-pointer by Connors but Spring Creek found itself in the single-bonus, as Lowry was in foul trouble with 19 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The Spartans made both free throws to close the gap to 12-8 after eight minutes of play/
Baskets by Connors and Brooke Hansen extended Lowry’s lead to five points at the beginning of the second quarter.
Spring Creek answered back with a pair of foul shots but Lowry countered with six straight points — three each from Juli Garcia and Connors. However, Spring Creek did not go away and trimmed the deficit top 30-25 at halftime.
Lowry led for much of the second half until Jasmine Yadeskie made a jump shot to tie the game at 39 in the fourth quarter with five minutes to play. Moments later, Kuskie knocked down her third 3-pointer of the game to give the Lady Bucks the lead back at 42-39.
Kylee Dimick hit two free throws and cut the lead to one at 42-41 and McLeod blocked Connors on a 3-point shot but Spring Creek was called for a travel in the open floor. The Lady Spartans were issued a technical foul and Connors dropped both attempts.
With 1:08 remaining, Kuskie was fouled and buried both free throws but Yadeskie knifed the lane along the left side, pulling the Lady Spartans to within one at 46-45 with 50 seconds remaining.
Connors tickled the rim and the net for Lowry on her first freebie, also netting the second.
On the other end, Spring Creek wisely elected for a two — Yadeskie swishing a jumper from the elbow with 18.5 seconds on the clock. Forced to foul, the Spartans sent Sappington to the free throw line ans she stuck both shots. Yadeskie immediately answered with a floater from the right side, trimming the lead to one with eight ticks remaining.
Kuskie went to the line and made the first shot but missed the second, but Lowry grabbed the offensive board to win the game. Connors finished with a game-high 27 points, scoring 17 in the first half. Kuskie scored nine of her 12 in the second half.
Lowry faces Mojave on Friday at 3 p.m. at Reno High School in one of two state semifinal games. The Rattlers beat Virgin Valley for the Southern 3A Championship.
The state championship is set for 2:40 p.m. on Saturday at Lawlor Events Center in Reno.
*Anthony Mori of the Elko Daily Free Press contributed to this story.
