The Lowry High School boys basketball team ran its winning to five games after a pair of Northern 3A victories last week on the road.
The Buckaroos traveled to Truckee on Thursday, Dec. 19, and picked up a 70-44 win.
Lowry was in Reno on Saturday, Dec. 20, and cruised to a 75-50 victory over North Valleys to improve to 4-0 in the Northern 3A and 5-2 overall.
“It was good to go on the road and get two wins,” said LHS coach Chad Peters. “Our goal was to win our four league games in December and we did that. We traditionally don’t play well at Truckee. I thought we played really well in the first half and was up by 28 points. Everyone played hard.”
Lowry jumped out to a 21-6 lead in the first quarter against Truckee and never looked back.
The Buckaroos picked up scoring from seven different players in the opening eight minutes of play and were up 39-20 at halftime.
Kobe Stoker led all scorers with 21 points, while Klay Garner and JJ Backus joined him in double figures with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Anthony Gildone added nine points and Max Mavity six.
The coach added that the second half was not as solid as the first and noted that the players might have let the crowd get to them a little bit to add to the frustration.
“The only negative I had is that we let their crowd get to us,” Peters said. “They weren’t saying anything negative, but they were just chirping at our guys. Our guys let it affect them and I don’t like that. We can’t let something like that affect us. We can’t worry about that stuff.. We started a new cellphone rule. Once we get in the gym or go some place as a team they are off and we are focused as a team. I really think it has made a difference.”
Lowry closed out the road trip with a 75-50 win at North Valleys in Reno, even though Peters noted it wasn’t the cleanest game for the Buckaroos.
Lowry led 40-29 at halftime and held North Valleys to 21 points in the second half.
Nine different players scored for Lowry with Backus and Stoker leading the way with 22 and 21 points, respectively.
Garner joined them in double figures with 11 points and Michael Casalez added six points.
Alex Ruiz and Gildone each contributed five points, Anthony Hemp and Mavity two each and Preston Snow one.
“It wasn’t our best game but we still controlled the game and the tempo,” said the coach. "The outcome was never in jeopardy. We gave up a lot of second-chance points and layups. It’s mainly rotations and when we are changing into things is what gets us in trouble. The first couple times we do that we give up weird, easy baskets. We are scoring in the 70s just about every game. If we can fix our defense, we will be in good shape.”
Lowry took on Atwater (Calif.), in the opening round of the Rail City Classic in Sparks on Thursday. Results were not available at press time. The tournament concludes on Saturday.
Lowry returns to its home floor to play Elko on Friday, Jan. 3, at 7:30 p.m. The Buckaroos host Spring Creek on Saturday, Jan. 4, at 2:30 p.m.
