The Lowry Buckaroos and the Churchill County Greenwave will face off at 6:00 p.m. on February 2nd without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Lowry had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 39 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. They claimed a resounding 63-28 win over Elko on the road. Given Lowry's advantage in MaxPreps' Nevada basketball rankings (they are ranked seventh, while Elko is ranked 44th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Britain Backus and Savannah Stoker were among the main playmakers for Lowry as the former scored 24 points and the latter scored 20 points along with six assists and six steals. Stoker has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last ten times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Khlloe Shorey, who scored six points along with 13 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Churchill County had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 28.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. They blew past Spring Creek 46-25. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory Churchill County has posted since December 30, 2023.
Churchill County found their leader in underclassman Jada Anastasio, who scored 21 points along with six steals and five rebounds. Anastasio has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last seven times she's played. Another player making a difference was Janessa Bettencourt, who scored eight points along with six rebounds and three steals.
Lowry has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 17-5 record this season. As for Churchill County, they pushed their record up to 17-5 with that win, which was their third straight on the road.
Friday's matchup is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Lowry have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Churchill County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.4 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything came up roses for Lowry against Churchill County when the teams last played on January 12th as the squad secured a 76-39 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lowry since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
