It appears the Lowry High School girls basketball team has found a new home away from home.
For the second time in a matter of a couple weeks, the Lady Bucks were back in southern Nevada for a four-day tournament.
After finishing second in the Liberty Classic, Lowry came back to Humboldt County with a third-place finish out of 24 teams at the Gator Classic last week in Henderson.
Lowry went 3-1 over the four days, losing to Flagstaff, Ariz., in the Diamond Bracket semifinals. Flagstaff went on to beat Shadow Ridge 88-80 to win the tournament title.
The Lady Bucks (8-3) are hoping for one more trip to Las Vegas — the home of the NIAA 3A State Championships on Feb. 25-26.
Lowry opened the tournament on Monday, Dec. 27, with a 59-26 win over Silverado, a member of the 5A South Mountain Division.
As it has done with much of its opponents this year, Lowry jumped out to a quick start with its pressing defense to create easy baskets and a 20-4 lead after eight minutes of play. The lead grew to 33-13 at halftime and 53-18 after three quarters of play.
It was much of the same against Southeast Career Tech on Tuesday, Dec. 28.
Lowry put little doubt in the result outscoring the Southern 3A school 32-9 in the opening eight minutes of action. The Lady Bucks held the Roadrunners to just eight points in the final three quarters and blanking them in the second period to lead 44-9 at halftime.
Lowry outscored SECTA 28-4 in the second half, which included a 22-4 spurt in the third quarter.
With the two wins, Lowry claimed first place in its pool and took on Las Vegas in the opening round of the Diamond Championship bracket on Wednesday, Dec. 30. The Las Vegas Review-Journal had Las Vegas ranked as the No. 3 team in the Southern 4A.
Lowry easily took care of the Wildcats, scoring 11 of the first 12 points in the 59-39 win.
Lowry sophomore scored eight of Lowry’s first 11 points, as Mckenzi Petersen had the other bucket during the early run. Las Vegas didn’t make a field goal until the end of the first quarter buzzer on a wild shot.
Stoker and Petersen combined for the first 11 points of the second quarter, as Lowry increased its lead to 25-11.
Jovi Kuskie got into the scoring column late in the second quarter off a steal and a layup and moments later Hannah Whitted fitted a quick pass to Stoker to give the Lady Bucks their largest lead of the first half at 29-12.
Emily Backus knocked down two quick shots at the start of the third quarter and assisted on another to Stoker moments later to push the advantage to 39-28.
After leading by as many as 23 points in the third quarter, Lowry watched as Las Vegas cut the deficit to 14 points at 50-36 midway through the fourth quarter.
That was as close as the Wildcats got, as Stoker, Backus and Kailey Franklin answered with consecutive buckets to push the lead back to 20 points at 56-36.
In the semifinals on Thursday, Dec. 30, Lowry took on Flagstaff, Ariz., the No. 3 ranked team in the 4A by MaxPreps.
The Lady Bucks got off a to a quick start against the Eagles, as Stoker and Backus combined for the first eight points of the game for Lowry in an 8-2 lead.
However, Flagstaff used its own defensive pressure. Combined with four 3-point shots to take a 24-15 lead, when Stoker ended the opening quarter with a bucket.
Lowry continued the run to start the second quarter, with an opening basket by Kuskie and two more by Stoker to close the gap to 24-23. That was as close as the Lady Bucks got, as the Eagles went on a quick 6-0 run to push the advantage back to 31-23.
Flagstaff held a 13-point lead at halftime, but saw that lead cut to six points in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter off of two baskets by Petersen and three points by Stoker.
Despite being in foul trouble, including Kuskie having four midway through the third quarter, Lowry made a run and were within six points at the end of the third quarter.
A basket by Hannah Whitted early in the fourth quarter trimmed the lead to 51-46 but Flagstaff knocked down two 3-pointers and added a 4-point possession after making a basket and getting fouled.
The Eagles missed the ensuing free throw, but got the rebound and made the basket to put the game out of reach at 68-51.
Lowry will attempt to play Truckee for a third time this season when the travel to California on Thursday for a 6 p.m. tip. The game has been rescheduled twice.
Lowry opens Northern 3A East play at Churchill County in Fallon on Friday at 6 p.m.
The Lady Bucks are back home Jan. 14-15 to play Dayton and Fernley, respectively.
