After a hard battle, the Greenwave basketball team claimed victory over the Lowry Buckaroos, 66-55.
The teams played hard the whole game, never slowing for an instant. The first quarter closed 8-6; both teams’ defenses were on fire and held the other back much of the period.
Fallon’s Elijah Jackson and Thomas Steele led the Greenwave to a two-point advantage while Lowry’s Dominick Solis and Oscar Juanes nailed three-pointers for the Buckaroos.
Fallon broke into the lead in the second quarter, quickly pulling ahead with three baskets for every one of Lowry’s. Scottie Smith opened the quarter with a basket to tie the game for Lowry; while Brendan Domire, Dorsey Naveran and Darian Solis added their own baskets, they could not overcome Fallon’s scoring sprees. Trey Rooks and Christian Nemeth added to Fallon’s score along with Jackson, Hayden Strasdin and John Cooley for a halftime score of 45-36.
The second half was the most intense, nearly doubling the first half score in the third quarter alone. The teams scored an identical number of baskets, closing the quarter with a Juanes basket at the buzzer, 45-36.
In the final quarter Lowry tried to come back, closing to a six-point difference as they fought to tie the game. The Greenwave, however, opened back to an 11-point advantage with a final basket from Cooley.
Fallon coach Chelle Dalager said it was an awesome game. She said they had trouble with rebounds in the first half, but changed things up in the second and it paid off to their advantage.
“We put four guard down on the perimeter and dribble penetrated a bit more and we got better ball movement,” Dalager said. “That opened up the game a little more.”
She said the Fallon players shared the ball well and made good decisions, playing a good press break.
Lowry coach Chad Peters said they had trouble making their shots and couldn’t handle Fallon’s pressure. He said they played hard, but couldn’t rally enough to push past the Greenwave’s six-point lead.
“We got ourselves into a little hole and couldn’t get out of it,” he said. “I thought we did a great job as far as competing, we just couldn’t finish … Just too little too late.”
Naveran was one of Lowry’s top players. Peters said he was carrying the Buckaroos while another player is out on injury.
Jackson led the Greenwave with 15 points while Hayden Strasdin was close behind with 12 points. Thomas Steele was a defensive leader with eight rebounds and three assists. Rooks and Cooley each added six rebounds.
Fallon hosts the Sparks Railroaders and South Tahoe Vikings this week to close the first half of the season. The Greenwave faces Sparks Friday at 7:30 p.m. and South Tahoe Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Lowry played Elko Tuesday and hosts Spring Creek Friday.
