It was the opposite ends of the spectrum for the Lowry High School girls basketball team last week.
The reigning 3A state championships needed to wait to the final seconds to knock off Pyramid Lake 58-55, while closing out the week with an 85-3 win over Sparks to improve its record to 6-0 and winning streak to 25 games, dating back to last year.
The Lady Bucks were scheduled to host Truckee last Friday, but that game was postponed due to travel concerns for Truckee and the team getting back over the Sierra Nevada Mountains to get home.
The game will now be played Monday, Jan. 19, at 3 p.m.
Lowry 58,
Pyramid Lake 55
Lowry hosted one of the top 1A schools in the state on Tuesday, Dec. 6, and rallied from a deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the 1A state runner-up from 2022, 58-55.
“It was a game that we needed to make us better,” said LHS coach Chelsea Cabatbat. “They are a very good team and we knew it would be a challenge when we scheduled the game.”
Lowry jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the opening quarter, behind a pair of baskets from Savanah Stoker and a short jump shot from Sydnee Pettis. However, the Lakers erased that deficit and came back to lead 10-9 after eight minutes of play.
The Lady Bucks used a 7-0 run in the second quarter, capped off by a 3-pointer from Pettis and a bucket by Stoker to go in front 19-12. Lowry maintained a 23-17 advantage at halftime.
The Lowry lead grew to 31-20 in the third quarter, but Pyramid Lake did not go away, causing turnovers with its defensive pressure.
On the strength of its outside shooting, Pyramid Lake came back to close the gap to 34-31, when Britain Backus ended the run with made jump shot and Stoker followed with two baskets to push the lead back to 40-31.
However, Pyramid Lake scored the final six points of the third quarter and the first made the first basket of the fourth quarter to trail 40-39.
The Lakers rallied to take a 49-47 lead with 4:22 left in the fourth quarter on the strength of a 3-pointer.
Following a Lowry time out, the Lady Bucks tied the game at 49 as Stoker put back a missed shot and after a missed free throw by Pyramid Lake, a Stoker layup gave Lowry a 51-49 lead with 2:55 to play.
The game would be tied at 51 and 53, when Pettis gave Lowry a 55-53 lead with 76 seconds to play on two made free throws.
After a Pyramid Lake turnover, Pettis was fouled again.
The senior missed the front end of the 1-and-1, but Stoker grabbed the rebound and put back the missed shot to push the lead to 57-53 with under a minute to play. Lowry would hang on from there.
Stoker finished with 38 points and 26 rebounds and Backus added 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Alexandra Barocio and Kailey Franklin and Pettis each had three points and Bryce Brinkerhoff two.
Lowry 85,
Sparks 3
Lowry led 35-0 after the first quarter and the game was played with a running clock the rest of the way. The lead grew to 48-0 at halftime and the Railroaders scored its only basket on a 3-point shot in the third quarter.
Due to illness, Lowry played with just seven players.
Stoker and Backus led Lowry with 30 and 21 points, respectively. Belen Barocio added 13 points, Alexandra Barocio seven, Autum Sanchez and Mia Hernandez each had six points and Pettis two.
Lowry travels to Reno on Wednesday to play Hug at 6 p.m. The Lady Bucks are back on the road Saturday to play North Valleys at 2 p.m.
