After missing out on last season due to the Covid pandemic and the way the schedule worked out this year, the Lowry High School girls basketball team was one of the last squads to get on the floor in the state of Nevada.
The Lady Bucks made their way to Las Vegas this past weekend for the three-day Liberty Crown Classic and finished second in the tournament with a 3-2 record.
Both losses came to host Liberty, a team considered to be one of the best in the state of Nevada.
“It was just nice to get back on the floor and play some games,” said first-year LHS head coach Jesse Zamudio. “We learned a lot by going down to Las Vegas. We ran into a very good Liberty team twice and the cool thing was the girls built a good relationship with them. Even though we lost, playing that kind of team will makes us better.”
In Thursday’s opener against Liberty, Lowry held a 15-10 advantage after eight minutes of play and trailed 30-25 at halftime after the Patriots went on a 20-10 run in the second quarter.
Liberty put the game out of reach with a 32-7 run in the third quarter. The Patriots went on to win the game 76-41.
“They are a solid team and like to pressure you,” Zamudio said. “They came out hot in that third quarter. There were a lot of nerves out there, playing our first game in almost two years.”
Lowry was back on the floor on Friday for two games in just over a four-hour span and knocked off Foothill 48-17 to improve to pick up its first win of the season.
The Falcons had come into the contest with wins over Mojave and Western.
Just 90 minutes later, Lowry was back on the floor to take on Green Valley and the Lady Bucks easily disposed of the Gators 57-27.
Lowry put the game out of reach quickly with a 17-4 run in the opening eight minutes of play and did not look back.
Lowry also scored 17 points in the second and third quarters to push the advantage to 28 points at 51-23.
After pool play, Lowry met up again with Green Valley on Saturday morning in bracket play. Zamudio noted that a handful of teams had to pull out of the tournament at the last minute, causing the tournament to be reworked.
The second meeting started out much like the first, as Lowry raced to a 12-2 lead after a quarter of play.
The Gators kept the deficit at 10 points at halftime, when the Lady Bucks outscored them 40-9 in the second half, including a 24-5 spurt in the third quarter.
In the championship game, Lowry faced Liberty for a second time and the Patriots claimed the title with an 81-56 win.
Liberty gained most of its lead in the first quarter at 32-10 and Lowry played the 5A school even from there.
“Even though we played a couple teams twice, its nice to see someone different,” Zamudio said. “We learned a lot about ourselves and it was a good bonding trip to be together for four days. We found out the good and bad of what we need to work on. I am just excited about our season.”
Lowry’s scheduled JV and varsity games at Truckee on Tuesday were postponed because of the winter storm in the Truckee, Calif., area. The games will be rescheduled.
Lowry will make its home debut on Friday against Hug at 6 p.m. The Lady Bucks are scheduled to play North Valleys on Saturday at 1 p.m.
