DURHAM — Kyle Buckingham hit back-to-back 3-pointers late in the third quarter to give the Lower Lake Trojans the spark they were looking for in a 65-57 victory over Oroville in the opening round of the Durham Tournament on Wednesday night in Durham.
“Oroville had just cut it to one when he hit those threes,” Lower Lake coach Marty Udy said. “They were huge.”
Lower Lake (1-1) ended up leading 51-44 by the end of the third quarter and the Trojans increased their advantage to as many as 13 in the final period. Oroville was never closer than the final score.
“We shot the bell well tonight and executed really well offensively,” Udy said. “What I”m most happy with is the guys played within the system and didn”t try to do their own thing. They relied on each other.”
Nick Steward scored 14 of his game-leading 20 points in the second half as the Trojans earned a date in the semifinals with Los Plumas on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Joe Taylor added 18 points and Buckingham finished with 13. Jeff Davis didn”t score but did pull down a team-high 13 rebounds.
“Taylor was our catalyst,” Udy said. “He also had seven rebounds and three assists. He played a really good floor game for us.”
Lower Lake led 19-11 after one quarter but Oroville closed to 32-28 by halftime.
The Trojans finished the game with nine 3-point field goals, including three by Buckingham and two each from Taylor and Josh Benfante.
