FALLON — One would have to throw the time machine in reverse for the last time the Lowry High School boys basketball team beat Elko on the Indians’ home floor.
It would take traveling back to 2011, when the Buckaroos swept the season series with the Indians. That was until last weekend, when Lowry beat Elko 77-76. It was the first win overall for Lowry over its rival since the 2014 season.
“It was an awesome night for us,” said LHS coach Chad Peters. “After the Fernley loss, we talked and said we haven’t played that many games together where we just can come out and turn it on. We have to play smart, harder and consistent. We have do the little things and limit our turnovers. Turnovers have killed us all year long. We go to Elko and have six turnovers. Elko beat us in every stat, except for turnovers and the score. If you looked at the stats on paper, you would think we lost by 15 or 20.”
Elko dominated the first meeting in Winnemucca, but Lowry was up for the challenge the second time around.
The Indians grabbed an early double-digit lead in the first half, but the Buckaroos were able to come back and trail by four points after a quarter of play.
A 20-15 run in the second quarter enabled Lowry to take a 35-34 lead at halftime.
The Indians rallied in the third quarter to go back in front, aided by free throws after a technical foul on Peters.
The back-and-forth battle continued into the fourth quarter, where Lowry found a groove on offense. The lead switched hands a handful of times in the final couple minutes of play, with the Buckaroos making key free throws down the stretch.
“We did the little thing right and did not panic at the end,” Peters said. “We battled back in the first half and got down in the third quarter due to my stupid technical foul. We battle back and got a good win. There was no panic. They were missing a couple kids, but when we played them the first time Kobe was hurt and Preston didn’t play. You have to play with what you have. That’s why you have 12 kids, that’s why you give kids a lot of time. We try to develop kids throughout the year.”
Klay Garner had a career-high 26 points, while Kobe Stoker and JJ Backus each added 17 points. Preston Snow had seven, Anthony Gildone four and Max Mavity and Michael Casalez each had two points.
“Klay went out and played his best game of his career,” added the coach. “He stepped up in a big moment.”
Lowry routs
Spring Creek
Even though the final score doesn’t show it, Lowry dominated its Saturday game in Spring Creek, leading by as many as 30 points in the second half.
The Buckaroos held a 16-12 advantage after a quarter of play, but broke the game open in the second quarter with a 22-3 run to lead 38-15 at the break.
The advantage grew to over 30 points in the second half, when the Spartans made a run late to cut the gap to under 15 points and Lowry eventually won 69-58.
“The trap game was Spring Creek,” Peters said. “We came out and played great in a game we could have packed it after a big win the night before. We did all the things we needed to. The game was never in jeopardy. I was happy that we didn’t take it for granted.”
Ten different Lowry players scored on the day, led by Garner with 15 points. Stoker and Backus joined him in double figures with 14 and points, respectively.
Casalez added eight points, Gildone seven, Anthony Hemp and Snow four each, Chance Huitt three and Alex Ruiz and Max Mavity two each.
Greenwave knocks off Buckaroos
As good as it was for two days in Elko last weekend, it was just as bad for the Buckaroos on Tuesday night in Fallon.
— See LOWRY, Page 17 —
Churchill County built a double-git lead and led by as many as 32 points in a 68-46 win.
“We didn’t play,” Peters said. “We played like a team that wasn’t ready to go. We buried ourselves early. We had some good teammates tonight, but also some selfishness as well. That selfishness is contagious and just killed us. We went fro m level nine to level four — it was brutal. We did compete in the second half after not competing in the first half. We are not talking about anything in the past. We are 0-0 and this weekend is about our seniors.”
Lowry went without a field goal for over four minutes to start the game, as Churchill County built an 11-3 lead. Gildone provided the buckaroos’ first basket with 3:45 to play in the opening period.
The Buckaroos cut he deficit to nine points midway through the first half after four points by Stoker and a basket by Backus.
However, the Greenwave pulled away at the end of the second quarter with a 13-3 run to lead 40-21 at the break.
Churchill County ended the third quarter on a 10-2 run to extended the margin to 26 points and were not challenged from there.
Stoker had a team-high 10 points, Gildone added seven, Casalez six, Ruiz, Hemp and Backus five each, Snow three, Mavity and Garner two each and Huitt one.
Lowry sits in third place in the Northern 3A at 12-4, while South Tahoe is fourth at 12-5. The two teams play on Friday in Winnemucca at 7:30 p.m. The Buckaroos host Dayton on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. One win by Lowry this weekend assures them the No. 3 seed in the regional tournament next week in Fallon.
Churchill County (16-1) has clinched the No. 1 seed and Elko (14-2) is second. Dayton (8-8) and Fernley (8-10) have a clinched the fifth and six seeds.
“If we want to get to a state tournament, we have a lot of work to do,” Peters said.
