ELKO —It was quite the start to the month of February for the Lowry High School girls basketball team.
The Lady Bucks wrapped up a stretch of seven games in 12 days and five in six to finish the Northern 3A perfect at 16-0, the Northern 3A East at 10-0 and a 22-3 record overall.
“It's so draining,” said Lowry senior Hannah Whitted. “I like playing basketball but that is a lot of basketball. We are getting there. We have had a couple setbacks during the season but we're going to be ready to go.”
Lowry played five games last week to wrap up the regular season, including an emotional, hard-fought 61-57 win over Spring Creek on Friday night in Winnemucca as part of senior night.
The Lady Bucks and Spartans came into the meeting as the top-ranked teams in the 3A in the state of Nevada.
The two teams did not disappoint, trading the lead for much of the night. Hannah Whitted scored right off the opening tip for Lowry, but it was Spring Creek’s long-distance shooting that kept the Spartans in the game.
Spring Creek came back down the floor to hit a 3-pointer and the game was on.
Savannah Stoker, McKenzi Petersen and Whitted provided early baskets to give the Lady Bucks a 14-11 advantage in the first quarter.
Spring Creek tied the game at 14 with its second 3-pointer and scored the final five points of the period, which included a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Spartans a 19-16 advantage after eight minutes of play.
Stoker brought Lowry within a point at 19-18 after a steal and layup at the start of the second quarter, but the Lady Bucks would lose Whitted for the final six minutes of the half after she was whistled for her second foul and received a technical foul after viewing her displeasure on the call. After all that Spring Creek built a 23-18 lead.
That was Lowry’s largest deficit of the calendar year, dating back to a game with Flagstaff with Arizona in December.
“We are definitely playing with a little more of an edge,” Whitted said after the regular season finale in Elko on Saturday. “Teams are playing us rough and trying to get under our skin. We are not going to step down from it.”
Lowry trailed 26-21 and 29-24, but got two late 3-pointers from Emily Backus, including a 30-footer at the buzzer to tie the game at 29.
After giving up the opening basket to Spring Creek, Lowry scored the next six points, including four from Stoker to go in front 35-31. With 4:45 left in the third quarter, Whitted was called for her fourth foul, sending the senior to the bench for the remainder of the third quarter.
Spring Creek rallied to tie the game at 39, when Lowry reeled off six quick points to go in front 45-41.
That lead dropped to 46-45 in the fourth quarter, when Jovi Kuskie knocked down a jump shot and Stoker followed with a bucket to push the advantage back to 50-45 with 5:24 to play.
The Lady Bucks could not pull away at the end, as the Spartans closed the gap to 52-51 with 2:46 to play. A putback basket by Stoker stretched the lead to 54-51, when Spring Creek nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game at 54 with 1:54 to play.
However, Lowry played long ball as well, as Backus came back down the floor and hit a 3-pointer and the Lady Bucks never gave up the lead again. Backus added two free throws down the stretch to secure the Northern 3A East title.
“We almost gave it away at the end by not making free throws,” said LHS coach Jesse Zamudio. “It was a game we needed. We had not been in a game like that since we played Flagstaff.”
Lowry 67,
Elko 38
Lowry began its busy week on Monday, Feb. 7, with a rescheduled game with Elko. The Lady Bucks made quick work of the Indians, jumping out to a 38-11 halftime lead enroute to a 67-38 win.
After giving up the opening basket to Elko, Lowry scored 12 of the next 14 points to break the game open. Lowry collected baskets from Kuskie, Whitted, Stoker and Backus during that stretch.
Lowry led 20-6 after eight minutes of action and extended the gap to 20 at 28-8 after a 3-pointer by Backus.
The advantage grew to 36-9 after a pair of free throws by Kuskie and a putback shot by Petersen.
Lowry saw Elko trim the lead to 23 points in the third quarter, but Lowry used another run to lead 65-32 in the fourth quarter.
Stoker led all scorers with 19 points, as Backus and Petersen joined her in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Whitted and Kuskie added seven points apiece, Mia Hernandez and Alexandra Barocio four each, Megan Cook two and Kailey Franklin one.
“We are in part of the season where everyone wants it,” Petersen said. “The grind is on from here for real. We want it really bad and are hungry. We still have room to get better.”
Lowry 58,
Sparks 8
Lowry traveled to Sparks on Tuesday, Feb. 8, and beat the Railroaders 58-8. The Lady Bucks led 34-0 after the first eight minutes and the Railroaders did not score until six minutes left in the second quarter. The lead grew to 42-8 at halftime and Sparks scored just two points in the second half.
Backus and Stoker paced Lowry with 16 and 14 points. Whitted and Hernandez netted six points apiece, Alexis Olsen, Barocio and Petersen four each and Franklin and Cook had two points apiece.
Lowry 79,
South Tahoe 29
Lowry scored a season-high 79 points in its 79-29 win over South Tahoe on Wednesday, Feb. 9, in Winnemucca. The Vikings will enter the regional championships as the top seed from the Northern 3A West.
Backus outscored South Tahoe by herself with a season-high 30 points and made six 3-pointers for the Lady Bucks in the win.
The Lady Bucks led 25-8 after eight minutes of play and never looked back. Backus opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer and Kuskie and Whitted got in the scoring fun, as Kuskie made a 3-pointer as well to create a running clock. Lowry led by as many as 54 points at one time.
Stoker added 17 points, Whitted 12, Petersen seven, Kuskie six, Barocio three and Olsen and Franklin two each.
Lowry 67, Elko 40
Lowry began the week against Elko and closed it out on Saturday against its rival.
The Lady Bucks played spoiler in the Indians senior night winning 67-40. Stoker closed out the regular season with her 30-point night of the season, scoring 30 in the win.
The Lady Bucks ended the first quarter on a 10-4 run, including a 3-pointer from Backus and quick, long-distant pass from Whitted to Petersen to end the quarter.
The lead grew to as many as 22 points in the first half, when Elko closed out the second quarter on a 5-0 run.
Lowry increased its lead throughout the second half and did not look back. Backus added seven points, Whitted six, Barocio five and Franklin six.
Lowry will open the Northern 3A Regional Championships on Thursday at the Winnemucca Event Center against North Valleys.
If Lowry wins that game, they will play the winner of Wooster and Elko on Friday at 4:30 p.m. at the Event Center.
The championship game is set for 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Winnemucca Event Center.
