It appears the Lowry High School boys basketball team can win games in different ways.
Just three nights earlier, the Buckaroos knocked down 16 3-point field goals in a 100-49 win over Fernley.
In Saturday’s 69-31 victory over Sparks, the Buckaroos failed to make a 3-pointer, but made 31 field goals to improve to 2-0 in the Northern 3A and 3-2 overall.
“We moved the ball and are playing really hard, which makes me happy,” said LHS coach Chad Peters. “That’s our first and foremost thing. We were a little out of control in the first half and took it too far on some possessions. We need to look for that 10-foot shot when we have it. We can play fast, but we need to be under control. We fixed it as the game went on.”
Kobe Stoker and Klay Garner combined for nine of Lowry’s first 11 points, as the Buckaroos jumped out to an 11-2 advantage midway through the first quarter.
The Buckaroos settled for a 17-7 lead after eight minutes of play.
The Railroaders cut the deficit to single digits with the first bucket of the second quarter, only to see the Buckaroos answer with seven consecutive points to go in front 24-7.
Anthony Hemp and Garner combined for all seven points. Mason Ellingford finished with the final four points to give Lowry a 34-15 lead at the break.
After allowing Sparks just 15 points in the first half, the Railroaders nearly equaled the total with 14 in the third quarter. However, the Buckaroos netted to 25 points in the first eight minutes after halftime. Still, the coach wasn’t happy with the defensive effort.
“I didn’t think we played very good on defense today, Peters said. “We didn’t block out very well and gave them to many easy layups and easy shots. When we play hard we can do a lot of things. If we want to be where we want to be in our league, we need to clean some things up. We need to do the little things. I was proud of our guys for not coming out and jacking up 3’s all night. The guys are taking what the defense is giving us. Our goal is to get two more league wins before we take on Elko and Spring Creek.”
Much of the fourth quarter was played with a running clock, as Lowry scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter.
“We came out and were ready to play,” Stoker said. “A couple of calls didn’t go our way and we got into panic mode and was playing too fast. After halftime, we relaxed, talked to coach and started to get in a groove.”
Lowry had four players in double figures, paced by Stoker’s 16 points. Garner added 15, Anthony Gildone 12 and Hemp 11. JJ Backus netted five points and Preston Snow and Alex Ruiz had two each.
“I think we have become a versatile team and take what the defense is going to give us,” said Snow. “I like where we are right now, but we are not going to settle. We want to continue to strive to get better.”
Lowry hits the road to play Truckee on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and North Valleys on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
