It was billed as an early-season battle for first place in the Northern 3A boys basketball standings, but Friday night’s game between rivals Lowry and Elko turned into a one-sided affair in favor of the visiting Indians.
Elko held Lowry to single digits in each of the first three quarters in a 67-34 win, handing the Buckaroos their first league loss.
“The biggest thing I was disappointed with was it was one of our biggest games of the year and we didn’t come ready to play,” said LHS coach Chad Peters. "It felt like we didn’t want to take a shot the entire game. We didn’t do anything on offense. Elko is a good team and do what they do. We didn’t match their intensity.”
Lowry picked up early baskets from Klay Garner and Kobe Stoker to lead 4-3, but the Buckaroo offense went cold from there, scoring no points the rest of the first quarter.
Elko had its struggles on offense as well, but scored the final seven points of the opening quarter to lead 10-4.
Max Mavity closed the gap to 10-7 with a 3-pointer to start the second quarter, when the offense went stagnant and cold again.
The Indians scored the next 10 points to go in front 20-7, when Garner stopped the run with a bucket with 2:44 left in the second quarter. Elko went into halftime with a 29-12 lead.
Elko opened the third quarter on an 11-3 run and pushed the advantage to 49-20 going into the fourth quarter. The Indians largest lead of the night was 33 points.
“We had a long talk afterward about the game and getting ready to play,” Peters said. “It’s a game we should be ready and excited to play. We came out and played like it didn’t matter to us.”
Michael Casalez led Lowry with eight points and Garner and Stoker each had seven points. Mavity had five points, JJ Backus three and Alex Ruiz and Mason Ellingford two each.
“I thought Max and Klay played well,” Peters said. “Max dislocated his finger late in the game and went to the hospital after the game. Klay did a good job defending (Michael) Klekas in the first quarter.”
Lowry bounced back on Saturday afternoon with a 71-57 win over Spring Creek to improve to 5-1 in the Northern 3A and 8-4 overall. After dislocating his finger the night before, Mavity was in the starting lineup for the Buckaroos.
“We changed some things up,” added the coach. “I liked the way Max played against Elko and I gave him the start against Spring Creek.”
Mavity knocked down a 3-pointer in the first quarter and Backus and Casalez each had four points to give Lowry a 13-11 lead.
“Michael is one our best shooters and before the game I told him I wanted 10 shots,” Peters said. “If we are not shooting the ball we are not going to score. He hit some shots for us. He had a couple air balls from the corner, but I am okay with him shooting the ball. JJ goes full out every time he plays. He plays with a lot of energy. We he need him to be under control though. When he does that we play well,”
Anthony Gildone and Casalez each had six points in the second quarter and Ruiz added five more in a 20-point second quarter for Lowry, who led 33-27 at halftime.
Lowry picked up eight points from Stoker in the third quarter, as the Buckaroos increased their lead to 57-41. Lowry cruised form there to earn the win.
Nine different players scored for Lowry with Casalez leading the way with 14 points. Ruiz had 12 points, Stoker 10, Gildone nine, Garner eight, Chance Huitt and Backus six each, Mavity five and Robert Rangel one.
Lowry hits the road this weekend to play South Tahoe on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Dayton on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
“South Tahoe is our most important game of the year,” Peters said. “It’s a tough place to play at. If we go in there and win, we put ourselves in a good place. If we lose, we drop down with a couple losses and in a spot with other teams. Right now, we are in good shape at 5-1. We can’t worry about Dayton until after the South Tahoe game.”
