Lowry's Bryce Brinkerhoff looks to pass the ball to a teammate during Friday's game against Dayton.
The regular season finale on Saturday afternoon provided fans in Winnemucca the latest heavyweight battle between the Lowry High School girls and Fernley.
The two schools have been far above everyone else in the 3A and are considered some of the top teams in the state. The Lady Bucks and Vaqueros met four times last year – with Lowry winning just one game, the state championship.
It looks like they are on the same path this year and in order for the Lady Bucks to win a third consecutive state title they may have to take the same course.
In front of a standing-room only crowd, the two squads traded blows, with Fernley coming out on top 58-56.
Lowry's Khlloe Shorey fights for control of the ball during Friday's game against Dayton.
The Lady Bucks’ Bryce Brinkerhoff set the tone early with a 3-pointer to begin the scoring. Baskets by Cambria Tisue and Savannah Stoker tied the game at 10, only to see Fernley turn up the defensive pressure and finish the opening eight minutes on a 11-2 run to lead 21-12.
The advantage grew to 26-12 in the second quarter, when junior Britain Backus knocked down the first of four 3-pointers on the day. She finished with 28 points and is just 28 points of scoring 1,000 points at Lowry.
Trailing 30-17, Lowry finished the first half on a 10-2 run after baskets by Autum Sanchez, Backus and two buckets by Stoker.
After a 3-pointer by Backus in the early moments of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 33-20, Fernley was called for a technical foul — leading 35-30. Backus made the two technical free throws and moments later Khlloe Shorey made 1-of-2 free throws. Off the missed free throw, Stoker put back a shot to tie game with 5:11 left in the third quarter.
The back-and-forth fight continued, as Brinkerhoff, a senior, knocked down her second 3-pointer to tie game at 38. Lowry tied the game for a third time at 42 on a basket by Stoker, but Fernley led 46-43 going into the fourth quarter.
Backus got the home crowd going with back-to-back 3-pointers at the start of the fourth quarter to give Lowry a 49-48 lead.
That was short-lived, as Fernley scored the next five points to go in front 53-49.
Baskets by Backus and Brinkerhoff kept Lowry within two points at 55-53. With less than a minute to play, the Lady Bucks had a chance to tie the game or lead but turned the ball over and the Vaqueros turned into an easy layup.
Fernley added a free throw with 30 seconds to play and pushed the lead to 58-53. Lowry wasn’t done as; Backus was fouled behind the 3-point line with :00.4 to play. She made all three shots but the Lady Bucks were not able to steal the inbound pass.
Stoker finished with 11 points, Brinkerhoff eight, Shorey five and Sanchez and Tisue two each.
Lowry 52, Dayton 10
Lowry hosted Dayton on Friday night and dominated from the start, leading 29-0 after the first quarter.
The advantage grew to 33-0, when the Dust Devils scored their first point on a free throw with 8:01 left in the second quarter. Lowry led 46-2 at halftime, as Dayton did not make a field goal in the first half.
Stoker and Backus paced Lowry with 19 and 16 points, respectively. All those points came in the first half. Shorey added seven points and Maura Braatz, Miranda Draper, Natalee Formby, Tisue and Brinkerhoff each scored two points.
Lowry (18-6 overall) was scheduled to host Wooster on Tuesday in the opening round of the Northern 3A Tournament. However, the Colts were involved in a fight during a game with Sparks on Feb. 7, and will not play the game.
Lowry plays the winner of North Valleys and Elko on Friday at Elko High School. Fernley/Hug and South Tahoe and Churchill County make up the other half of the bracket.