North Tahoe’s girls basketball team faced No. 1 Spring Creek and No. 2 Lowry this past weekend, and despite a strong showing, dropped both games to the Northern 3A league powerhouses.

On Friday night North Tahoe hosted Lowry (8-1). Despite dropping the game 62-43, the scoreboard did not reflect the game that was played on the court.

North Tahoe seemed to steal balls, convert drives and generally hang with Lowry.

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At the end of each quarter, however, North Tahoe trailed on the scoreboard.

The Lakers did manage to keep things relatively close throughout the game, especially in the first quarter. North Tahoe put forth a strong quarter and beside looking slightly flustered and rushed, kept Lowry within 10 points at the end of the quarter.

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In the second quarter the Lakers settled down a bit and gained some composure while still doing a good job of breaking up the Lowry attack and converting drives.

But North Tahoe still headed into the locker room down 27-18.

The Lakers managed to keep the appearance of the game even, battling hard and posting points, but Lowry pulled away a bit in the third quarter, heading into the final eight-minute period up by almost 20 points.

According to head Laker coach Scott Conn, his girls held onto the ball more than they have been and forced more turnovers than normal.

In fact, Conn was pleased with his team’s overall performance against Lowry.

“I was very happy with the improvement I saw,” Conn said.

North Tahoe was led on the scoreboard by Brit Johnson, who posted 14 points. Joelle Lazzareschi was next with nine, Kelly Hester had eight and Bridgette Kimmey posted six.

Conn said his girls hammered Lowry with the full-court press, which they kept firing all four quarters.

“Boy I was proud of them tonight,” Conn said of his girls’ effort.

The following afternoon was not so positive for the Lakers, although when facing an undefeated No. 1 squad like Spring Creek, the score is not all that can be focused on.

“We did as I expected,” Conn said of the 86-28 loss.

Conn said that against a team as strong as Spring Creek, he started all of his seniors and did some experimentation with personnel to see how players have progressed and improved throughout the season.

While Lazzareschi posting a team-high 13 points, no other Laker senior scored against Spring Creek.

Conn, who again started five seniors, said the Lakers did not score until the fifth minute when he subbed in some of his regular sophomore starters.

But against an opponent like Spring Creek, there’s not much that can be done.

“They are very loaded with a very talented team,” Conn said. “They are fun for me to watch.”

North Tahoe plays at Incline Village on Friday at 6 p.m. Saturday the Lakers host Fernley at 2 p.m.