When the final buzzer went off, Lowry players celebrated like they had won the state championship. The Carson Senators and their fans could only look on in disbelief.
Lowry outscored Carson 11-0 in the final two minutes to wipe out a two-point deficit and upset the Senators 69-60 in the semifinals of the 33rd annual Capital Classic Friday night at Morse Burley Gymnasium.
The win earned Lowry a spot opposite Damonte Ranch in today's 2:30 p.m. championship game. Carson will face Reed in the third-place game at 1:15 p.m.
A combination of things led to Carson's demise - Pat Smith got into first-half foul trouble and was limited to six points; the team shot 34 percent from the field; gave up way too many offensive rebounds; and generally didn't take the best percentage shots at times.
"We have to figure it out again," Carson coach Bruce Barnes said. "We talked a lot about it in practice (earlier this week) and I even pulled guys individually.
"It's a nonconference loss. That doesn't make it hurt any better. The table was set to go to the championship game. We were in good shape at half and let it slip away."
Carson led 41-31 at the break thanks to an 11-5 run late in the second quarter, a surge keyed by 3-pointers from Josh Peacock and Brian Barnes. It was a solid effort considering Smith missed a good portion of the 16 minutes with foul trouble.
That's when Lowry's senior guard David Eastman, who finished with a game-high 30 points, took over. He scored eight points in a 17-4 run that gave the Buckaroos a 48-45 lead with 1:11 in the third quarter. He started the barrage with two free throws and ended it with a driving lay-up.
"He (Eastman) at one point took over the game," Barnes said. "He's a smart basketball player. He controlled the game."
Carson's Ean Witter muscled one in to close the gap to 48-47, and the Senators opened the fourth quarter with a 9-4 run led by sophomore point guard Andrew Johnson, who scored seven of his 15 points in less than a minute, to take a 56-52 lead. He had two steals in that span.
"He handled the ball pretty well," Barnes said. "He helped himself tonight."
Lowry knotted the game at 56 with 3:19 left on buckets by Will Thacker and Joel Mendoza. Johnson untied the game with a 3-pointer to make it 59-56. Danny Westfall cut the deficit to 59-58 with 2:34 left. Barnes made one of two from the line 17 seconds later to give Carson a 60-58 lead.
That would be Carson's last score of the night. Lowry stormed back, and Eastman was right in the middle of the Lowry comeback.
He knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Buckaroos a 61-60 lead, and then knocked down four straight from the line in the final 27 seconds.
"We knew coming in we had to limit them to one shot," said Lowry coach Lee Bosch. "We held them to 19 points in the second half. I don't think they got more than two offensive rebounds."
DAMONTE 49, REED 35
The Mustangs, led by Matthew Nuthall and Jack Denzler, went on a 13-3 surge in a span of 8-minutes 45-seconds spanning the third and fourth quarters to gain a double-digit lead en route to their semifinal win.
Nuthall scored seven in that span and Denzler added five as Damonte upped its lead to 34-23 with 5:59 left in the game. Reed closed to 34-29 on two straight 3-pointers by Mike Powell, but the Mustangs scored 10 of the next 14 to salt it away.
Nuthall, who was held scoreless in the first half, finished with 16, Denzler added 11 and C.J. Santos scored 10. Powell led Reed with 13 points.
LOSERS BRACKET
CENTRAL VALLEY 68, FERNLEY 31
The Falcons scored the game's first seven points and coasted to an easy victory over the Vaqueros.
Two sophomores led the way for Central Valley. Christian Spaschak scored 20 and Carlos Mancasola added 14.
After the 7-0 run to start the game, the Falcons ended the first half with a 15-1 run to take a 37-18 lead into intermission. Mancasola and Dakota Bearquiver each had four points in the surge.
Bryce Baker led Fernley with 11 points.
HUG 64, FALLON 57
The Hawks outscored Fallon 14-7 in the final 4 1/2 minutes to grab their first win of the tournament.
Jake Johnston had hit a pull-up jump shot to give the Greenwave a 50-48 lead with 5:02 left in the game.
Earvin Montano tied the game at 50 on two free throws with 4:36 remaining. Ortiz knocked down two free throws to give the Hawks a 52-50 lead with 4:36 left. Derrick Stanford re-tied the game with 2:56 left.
Hug scored 11 of the next 13 to take control, and Fallon never got closer than six the rest of the way.
Tre Johnson led the Hawks with 23 points and Ortiz added 12. Johnston led the Greenwave with 19 and Miles Adams added 16.
TODAY'S CAPITAL CLASSIC SCHEDULE
Championship
2:30 p.m. - Lowry vs. Damonte Ranch
3rd place
1:15 p.m. - Carson vs. Reed
5th place
11:45 a.m. - Central Valley vs. Hug
7th place
10:15 a.m. - Fernley vs. Fallon