Lady Bucks head back to state tournament to defend 3A state crown
RENO — The reigning 3A state champion is set attempt to defend its title after picking up two wins at the Northern 3A Regional this past weekend at North Valleys High School in Reno.
The Lady Bucks earned a 45-30 win over South Tahoe on Thursday and disposed of North Valleys, the Western 3A regular season champion, 74-52 in front of a raucous home crowd for the Panthers.
Lowry’s bid to repeat as regional champion fell short on Saturday afternoon, with a 57-39 loss to Fernley. Lowry heads to the state tournament with a 24-4 record.
Lowry 45,
South Tahoe 30
In the regular season, Lowry beat South Tahoe 68-27 but the Lady Bucks found it tough going on Thursday afternoon in the tournament opener.
Savannah Stoker and Britain Backus combined for all of the Lady Bucks’ nine points in the first quarter as Lowry led 9-3.
Stoker added seven points in the second quarter and Bryce Brinkerhoff and Backus each added a bucket.
Lowry extended their lead to 35-18 in the third quarter, as Stoker and Backus combined for all 15 points.
Stoker finished with a game-high 22 points, Backus added 19, Brinkerhoff three and Kailey Franklin one.
Lowry 74,
North Valleys 52
After winning just seven games a season agon, North Valleys came back with a fairy tale season , winning over 20 games this season.
The Lady Bucks had to face the Panthers on their home court on Friday and soon showed why they are the reigning champion.
In a scary start, where Brinkerhoff went down to the floor with an injury and did not return to the game, the Lady Bucks trailed 5-2 in the early going but quickly bounced back.
Lowry went on an 8-0 run, capped of by baskets from Backus, Mia Hernandez and Stoker. North Valleys tied the game at 10-1, when Lowry ended the first eight minutes of play on a 9-2 run, which included baskets by Stoker, Franklin, Backus and a closing 3-pointer by Sydnee Pettis.
Lowry silenced the home crowd with a 23-4 run in the second quarter to lead 42-16. Leading 23-16, the Lady Bucks scored the final 19 points of the half, with contributions from a handful of players. Miranda Draper, Franklin and Hernandez added baskets and Pettis knocked down her second 3-pointer of the first half.
Lowry led by as many as 27 points in the third quarter, following a basket by Stoker, a layup from Pettis and a turnaround jumper from Backus.
North Valleys made a late run at the third quarter to cut the gap to 60-40, when Stoker and Backus combined for eight points at the start of the fourth quarter and Lowry cruised from there.
Stoker and Backus paced Lowry with 27 and 21 points, respectively. Pettis added eight points, Hernandez seven, Franklin six and Draper two.
Fernley 57,
Lowry 39
Lowry met up with Fernley for the third time this season in the championship on Saturday afternoon. The Vaqueros beat the Lady Bucks twice this year in the regular season.
After trailing 14-7 after the first quarter, Lowry rallied with a run in the second quarter to trail 28-24 at halftime.
Fernley put the game out of reach in the third quarter with a 17-5 run.
Lowry will take on Moapa Valley on Friday at 7 p.m. at Lawlor Events Center in Reno in the opening round of the NIAA 3A State Championships.
Fernley takes on Pahrump Valley in the other semifinal at 3:40 p.m.
The championship game is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday at Lawlor Events Center.