RENO — For the third time in the last five years, the Lowry High School girls basketball team found itself playing in the 3A state championship game.
The foe would be a familiar one for the second consecutive season, as the Lady Bucks took on Northern 3A rival Churchill County. The Greenwave beat the Lady Bucks in the 2017 regional and state championship and the 2018 regional game in Elko.
Lowry was looking to turn the tables on Churchill County in the game that counted the most this past Saturday at Lawlor Events Center. As it has in most of the games over the last two years, the Lady Bucks stayed close with the Greenwave for a good portion of the contest. However, Churchill County made a run late in the third and early in the fourth quarter to win 60-45.
“You have to give them credit, they are a good team,” said LHS coach Chelsea Cabatbat. “We had a good game plan and had our chances to win. If you let them make a little run, it is hard to get back in the game. Every time we got close, they made a couple baskets to answer.”
After allowing the first four points to Churchill County, Lowry took a 5-4 lead midway through the first quarter after a 3-point shot by Alyssa Kuskie. Kepa Bengochea started a 5-0 Lowry run, which gave the Lady Bucks a 10-7 lead. Sydney Connors and Kyllie Sappington combined to make three free throws in that stretch.
Churchill County scored the final four points of the first quarter to go back in front and the first six of the second quarter to lead 17-10 with 4:10 left in the first half.
Lowry ended a scoreless streak of more than six minutes after a free throw by Kuskie. A pair of baskets by Sappington and Connors brought Lowry within four points at 17-13 with 2:42 to go in the second quarter. However, the Greenwave made another run to push the advantage back to nine points at 24-15.
Lowry closed the gap once again to end the first half, scoring five of the final six points. That included a 25-foot shot at the buzzer that Connors banked in to excite the crowd.
The Lady Bucks continued to go toe-to-toe with the Greenwave and were within a point at 31-30 in the third quarter after buckets by Shelby Garrison, Kuskie and Connors.
Lowry had a chance to take the lead midway through the third quarter but missed seven consecutive free throws and Churchill County took advantage of the missed shots. The Greenwave went on an 11-2 run to push the margin to double figures at 42-32.
Lowry closed the gap to eight points at 44-36 with the opening basket of the fourth quarter but that was as close as the Lady Bucks got. The Greenwave countered with a 12-1 run to go in front 56-37 and the Lady Bucks could never recover.
Connors paced Lowry with 15 points and Kuskie and Sappington added seven points each. Garrison had five, Kepa Bengochea four, Juli Garcia three and Victoria Tirado and Becca Kuskie two points each.
“That was a big momentum shift there,” Cabatbat said. “I am still proud of the girls and the way we played. We had nine new players this year and got back to the state championship. You always want to win the state championship but we had a pretty good year.”
Lowry crushes Mojave
It was a record-setting afternoon for Lowry as it opened the state tournament against Mojave on Friday at Reno High School.
The Lady Bucks knocked 12 3-point field goals en route to a 73-38 win over the Rattlers. The Las Vegas school played a zone defense the entire contest and the hot shooting from Lowry made them pay.
The 12 shots from long distance is a new state tournament record by any team in the state. Alyssa Kuskie finished with 23 points and made seven 3-pointers. The seven baskets is a 3A state record and second most in history to Pahranagat Valley’s Bailey Hosier, who made eight in 2014.
Lowry raced out to a 12-1 lead behind three 3-pointers from Connors and another from Alyssa Kuskie. The Lady Bucks led by as many as 12 points in the first eight minutes of play.
Mojave was not shy about shooting from long distance as well and cut the margin to 16-7 at the beginning of the second quarter. That was as close as they got as Alyssa Kuskie and younger sister Becca Kuskie combined for a quick 11 points to push the lead back to 30-10. Sophomore Sierra Maestrejuan also had a 3-point play during that stretch.
Alyssa Kuskie continued her hot shooting with four more 3-pointers in the third quarter and Connors and Garrison added baskets to push the lead to 55-25 after three quarters of play.
Lowry cruised to the win from there, with the bench getting ample playing time in the fourth quarter. The Lady Bucks actually made more 3-point field goals (12) that 2-point shots (11) in the contest.
Alyssa Kuskie led all scorers with 23 points and Connors and Becca Kuskie joined her in double figures with 16 and 11 respectively.
Shelby Garrison and Tirado had six points apiece, Maestrejuan three and Rachel Garrison, Brooke Hansen, Heather Hall and Bengochea two each.
Lowry finished the year at 17-10 overall and 12-4 in the Northern 3A
They graduate four seniors in Alyssa Kuskie, Shelby Garrison, Bengochea and Sappington.
