Fallon guard Tyler Bagby dribbles while being defended by Lowry's Josh Shaver Friday in Elko. The Wave lost 58-41.
ELKO — The Lowry boys basketball team entered Friday’s regional first round game again Fallon as heavy favorites, and it did not take the Buckaroos long to prove why in their 58-41 win.
Elko, meanwhile, beat Lowry on Saturday to claim the regional title.
Lowry scored the game’s first 11 points to take a double-digit lead over the Greenwave, a lead it kept throughout most of the game, save for a third-quarter scare. The Buckaroos clinched a state tournament berth, eliminating Fallon, and take on Clark at 12:40 p.m. Friday.
Lowry coach Chad Peters said Fallon played his team tough, but he was not totally pleased with the effort.
“Give Fallon a lot of credit, they battled us,” he said, “but if we play like that tomorrow (Saturday against Elko), we’ll get beat by 40.”
Fallon coach Brad Barton was proud of his squad in his first year coaching, but he will be looking for more in the future.
“Our goal was to make the playoffs, and we did that,” he said. “We’ll be back next year and hopefully stay for longer.”
Calvin Connors led Lowry with 17 points and Jeff Evett paced Fallon with 16.
The regular-season champion Buckaroos took a quick 2-0 lead with their first possession and rained three consecutive 3-pointers to open their 11-0 lead. A few triples in response from Fallon made the game 13-8, but that was as close as the Greenwave would get. Lowry claimed the quarter’s final seven points to take a comfortable 20-8 lead into the second quarter.
Not a lot changed in the second frame, as Fallon scored 10 points to Lowry’s 11 to keep the game within a 31-18 margin at the half.
The third quarter looked like it would be more of the same, as Lowry opened up a 38-22 lead in short order. That’s when the Greenwave entered a stretch of high tide.
Fallon scored the final 11 points of the third quarter, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, to cut the deficit to 38-33 entering the fourth quarter.
With new life, the Greenwave opened the final frame trading blows with Lowry, but the Buckaroos pulled away before long. After the score was 40-35, Lowry went on a 12-0 run to take back control of the contest, finishing 58-41.
Peters said his Buckaroos would need to be better prepared against Elko in the regional final, and added that they should not lack for motivation.
“It’s against a rival on their home court for a regional championship,” he said. “If these boys aren’t ready to play Elko, there’s no magic dust that can get them ready.”