The last time the Lowry High School girls basketball team was on its floor was way back on Feb. 15, 2020, in a match-up against Dayton.
Looking back, just four holdovers from that squad was back on the floor this past weekend against Hug and North Valleys.
The Lady Bucks gave the crowd a good show, beating Hug 77-23 and North Valleys 65-23 to improve to 5-2 on the season.
“When this team gets going, they are fun to watch,” said LHS coach Jesse Zamudio. “When they are on the floor, they are looking at each other. I keep telling them, if they do that, they are going to be hard to stop.”
In the win over Hug, Lowry raced out to a 33-6 lead in the first quarter, as sophomore Savannah Stoker scored 16 of her game-high 18 points in the opening eight minutes of play.
McKenzi Petersen added six points in the first quarter and Emily Backus and Hannah Whitted had five and four points.
The game was played with a running clock from midway through the second quarter as the Lady Bucks led 52-15 at halftime, as Kailey Franklin, Alexis Olsen and Mia Hernandez combined for 15 of the 19 points in the second quarter.
The Lowry defense held Hug to just eight points in the second half.
“We are going to keep playing hard, even if we have a big lead,” Zamudio said. “I don’t want us to get complacent. We are not going to run the score up, but I want them to play. We will drop back in defense and when we had the ball, I wanted at least four passes before we do anything. If there is a layup available after those four passes the girls can do that.”
Backus and Petersen joined Stoker in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Alexandra Barocio and Whitted had eight points apiece, Franklin six, Olson five, Jovi Kuskie and Hernandez four each and Megan Cook two.
Lowry crushes
North Valleys
After scoring 33 points in the first quarter the night before, Lowry put up 32, including the first 22 against North Valleys.
Backus kicked off the scoring barrage with a 3-pointer and the rout was on from there. Stoker scored 14 of her game-high 24 points in the opening period, as she outscored the Hawks by herself. Backus added seven points in the first quarter and Petersen had five.
North Valleys scored its first basket of the night with 1:21 left in the first quarter, only to see Lowry quickly score 11 points in the final 81 seconds to lead 32-2.
The Panthers scored the first nine points of the second quarter and held the Lady Bucks without a field goal in the period.
The only point in the second quarter for Lowry was a free throw by Franklin.
The Lady Bucks wasted little time in the third quarter to put the game out of reach, as Lowry scored the first 10 points of the quarter to go in front.
Whitted, Kuskie, Stoker and Backus combined for all 20 points in the quarter, as Lowry led 53-16.
Backus added 14 points, Whitted nine, Petersen seven, Kuskie six, Barocio four and Franklin one.
“The season is young and we still have things to work on,” added the coach. “We want to build and get better as the season progresses, so we are ready for the end of the season.”
Lowry was scheduled to travel to Truckee on Dec. 14, but the game was postponed due to the winter storm that hit the area. The game will be made up in January.
It will be a short Christmas break for the Lady Bucks, who will travel to Las Vegas again and play in the Green Valley Gator Classic beginning on Monday, Dec. 27, against Silverado.
Lowry is scheduled to play SECTA on Dec. 28. The tournament continues on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30.
Lowry opens Northern 3A East action on Jan. 7 in Fallon.
“It’s back to Vegas and see what we run into down there,” Zamudio said. “It’s another chance to see some different teams, sharpen the tools and get us ready for Fallon in January.”
