3A BOYS: Undersized Bulldogs don’t measure up to Buckaroos

RENO — Lowry might have been the worst team for an undersized Virgin Valley boys basketball team to run into in the Class 3A state semifinals.

The Buckaroos fielded plenty of size in 6-foot-6-inch forwards Joel Mendoza and Daniel Westfall, as well as 6-2 wide-bodied center William Thacker.

Those three made the Bulldogs (19-7) pay, combining for 41 points, including 26 in the second half, as Lowry rallied for a 79-74 victory at Damonte Ranch High to move into today’s championship game.

The Buckaroos (15-11) play either Yerington or Sparks at 1:40 p.m. Saturday at UNR’s Lawlor Events Center.

“They knew our weakness, and our weakness is rebounding,” Virgin Valley coach Rich Bohne said. “We really struggled with that. They did what they needed to do, put it inside and got a lot of easy baskets on us.”

The Bulldogs led by seven at the half, and seemed to be in control until a 7-0 run gave Lowry a 49-47 lead with 2:28 left in the third quarter.

From there the game went back-and-forth, with neither team able to pull away.

Thacker had a post bucket with 2:07 to play to give Lowry a 74-72 lead, and the Buckaroos held the advantage for the rest of the game.

“I didn’t know what defense to go to,” Bohne said. “They got easy baskets in our zone, in our press and in our man-to-man. If you’re going to give up easy baskets like that, it’s going to be tough to win a ballgame.”

Cameron Jensen scored a game-high 26 points to lead Virgin Valley, including 11 in the fourth quarter. He also had a team-high eight rebounds.

“Cameron’s really stepped up the last part of the season,” Bohne said. “He had a good game, and kept us in it. He has that mentality to look to attack.”

Beau Cloes added 15 points, Austin Cloes had 13 and Jason Wittwer supplied 11, but the offense wasn’t enough.

“We did our job, offensively,” Bohne said. “That’s about as good as we can play offensively. But we’re usually a little better defensive team.

“The effort was out there, it was just a little bit of an execution problem.”