3A playoffs: Fallon's comeback bid falls short

RENO — Unlike the last time Chelle Dalager found her boys basketball team down big to Lowry in the playoffs, the Greenwave couldn’t comeback this time.

Down by 19 points entering the fourth quarter, Fallon was resilient, trimming the deficit to six with four minutes left, but Lowry prevailed with a 64-57 win on Thursday in the first round of the 3A North regional tournament at North Valleys High School.

Lowry, which had a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter when the teams met in 2019, lost that game, with Fallon moving on and eventually winning the state championship over Elko in Las Vegas.

This year, Lowry advanced, but fell to Fernley on Friday in the semifinals; Elko later nailed 12 3-pointers to defeat Fernley for the regional title on Saturday.

After the Greenwave swept the season series over the Buckaroos, it was all Lowry for the first three quarters as it built a 26-14 lead at halftime.

The Greenwave slowly chipped away at the 47-29 deficit to begin the fourth quarter when Braden Sorensen and Shawn Alexander hit back-to-back 3-pointers after Parker Steele started the comeback attempt. Alexander hit the accompanying free throw after sinking his shot while being fouled with 4 minutes, 12 seconds left to trim the deficit to 10 points.

Less than 10 seconds from completing the three-point play, Alexander fouled out and was then ejected after shoving a Lowry player. Lowry, which was in the bonus, scored its next four points off free throws to build the lead back up to 14 points (56-42).

Trevor Hyde reignited the rally, scoring the next four points when he converted from his own miss and then hit a pair of free throws with 3:09 remaining and Fallon down 10. Brady Alves and Carter Paul hit back-to-back 3-pointers to bring the Greenwave to within six points (58-52) with 1:30 left in the game.

This time, though, Lowry made sure that lightning wouldn’t strike twice.

After the Buckaroos’ Jaden Jimenez split a pair of free throws, Dempsey Jenkins and Steele scrambled for a loose ball, with Steele getting called for the foul to send Jenkins to the line, where he hit one free throw to increase the lead to 60-52. Jimenez was fouled on the next possession and made one free throw, putting Fallon behind by three possessions with 43 seconds remaining.

Paul, though, missed his next 3-point attempt before Alves fouled out. Sorensen scored again with 25 seconds left but Lance Brinegar’s putback on Isaac Danner’s miss gave Lowry a 64-54 lead with 15 seconds left. Sorensen hit a long 3 with 2 seconds to go.

Lowry led by double digits after the first quarter after Fallon had tied the game at seven when Alexander scored with four minutes left. The Buckaroos, though, finished the quarter on a 10-point run.

The closest Fallon got was seven points when Alves hit a 3-pointer with 4:28 left in the first half, but Lowry outscored Fallon 6-1 the rest of the way.

A 6-0 Fallon run to start the second half after Alexander’s bucket had Fallon within six points of Lowry with five minutes left in the quarter, but Jimenez and Danner traded scoring down the stretch to build the lead back to double digits before Fallon’s comeback attempt in the final frame.