By MARLYS GOOD
Second mission accomplished. The 1A West Regional Girls Basketball championship trophy is in the hands of the Burlington Lady Huskies, thanks to a 61-51 victory over Meeteetse Saturday afternoon in Lander. Their third and final mission, the 1A State Championship, lifts off this morning at 9 a.m. at the Casper Events Center where the Lady Huskies will meet Upton.
Sharing the bracket with Burlington and Upton are Cokeville and Hulett. Coming up the other side are Kaycee, Snake River, Meeteetse and Arvada-Clearmont.
The route to the regional crown was not easy. After a relatively easy 71-42 rout of Hanna-Elk Mountain in the quarterfinals, the Lady Huskies were forced to come from behind to beat Cokeville, 59-54 in the semifinals Friday night, a rare position for Burlington. It happened again Saturday after upstart Meeteetse had beaten state-ranked Snake River, in the semifinals.
Cokeville and Burlington are perennial rivals at both state and regional levels, and this year both have been ranked in the echelon of 1A teams. Anything can happen, and it almost did Friday night. After breezing by Hanna in the opener, Cokeville and Burlington squared off Friday. The Lady Huskies roared to a 17-4 first quarter lead, but two quick fouls by Paige Neves sent her to the bench early in the first quarter and the entire second quarter; joining her not long after was Lyndsey Wardell. Things started to unravel. “At times we had even more starters sitting out and there were times when our tallest girl on the floor was 5-5, or 5-6. Cokeville took advantage of that. We held our own, but lost the lead,” Coach Jerry Patrick said.
The 17-4 edge was reduced to 17-10 by the end of the first quarter and after getting outscored 14-6 in the second quarter, they gave up the lead to be down 24-23 at half.
Cokeville came out strong in the second half. “They were ready to go,” said Patrick. “We were a little bit flat, and didn’t cover their outside shooter.” Cokeville responded by hitting five shots in a row, including three 3-pointers, and Burlington found themselves down by as many as 10-12 points. Thanks to the 19-8 run, Cokeville took a 12-point lead, 43-31, and were still up 46-44 with just eight minutes left in the game.
“They had our number; we were back on our heels,” Coach Patrick admitted.
Playing catch-up wasn’t easy. The Lady Huskies cut the lead to 50-48 with 4:58 left, but Cokeville regained the momentum and extended the lead to 54-48.
With 3:08 left on the clock, Coach Patrick called a time out — and whatever he said, had an impact; Cokeville didn’t score again. “We started pressing, getting after them and got some turnovers — made some nice plays, some nice passes and took the lead.” Neves got a steal and layup, Zubia scored twice and Wardell got a putback. The final three points were free throws, two by Carrizales and one by Zubia. The Lady Huskies won the game 59-54 and propelled themselves into the title game with Meeteetse Saturday.
“Meeteetse played well, executed pretty well and played tough defense,” credited Patrick. “Again we got in foul trouble (Neves picked up two in the first four minutes) right away and had to struggle along.” The loss of Janet Davidson three weeks ago has had a big impact on the team that was apparent at regionals. With Davidson absent, Patrick said players are forced to play out of position, out of their comfort zone.
Esmeralda Zubia answered the call with inspired play, hitting six of nine field goal attempts, grabbing five rebounds (she’s just 5-2) and getting three steals. “She stepped up big time for us — made things happen. I have always known she was capable of playing like that so I was not surprised, but I was pleased. I hope she can continue that through the state tournament.”
Just a step away from their third goal, the 1A title, Patrick knows his athletes have their work cut out for them. One of the keys to success is whether he can keep his starters on the court — and off the bench. “We are so aggressive; they just can’t keep those hands back,” Patrick said resignedly. To go all the way to the top, they have to learn “to keep their hands to themselves, keep our composure and play with a great deal of intensity,” Patrick said. “I think we are the better team, but we have to show up and prove it.”
A win against Upton this morning; will put the Lady Huskies against the winner of the Hulett/Cokeville game in the semifinals 4:30 p.m. Friday at Casper College.
Burlington 71, Hanna 42
Burlington: Paige Neves 21, Lindsay Wardell 14, Esmeralda Zubia 9, Alysha Henderson 8, Jessie Flores 7, Sadie Neves 4, Jessica Stanworth 3, Brecka Carrizales 2, Jamie Dehl 2, Julie Davidson 1. FG: 29-73. 3-POINTERS: 2-9 (Zubia, Flores). FT: 11-19. REBOUNDS: 40 (Wardell 9, Neves 7). ASSISTS: 15 (Carrizales 5, Neves 4). STEALS: 21 (Neves 7). TURNOVERS 13. FOULS: 17.
Hanna: 9 8 16 9 - 42
Burlington: 23 2 32 14 - 71
Burlington 59, Cokeville 54
Burlington: Neves 15, Wardell 12, Carrizales 11, Zubia 10, Henderson 4, S. Neves 3, Flores, 2, Camilla Jones 2. FG: 22-56. 3-POINTERS: 1-9 (Carrizales). FT: 14-22. REBOUNDS: 24 (Henderson, 6, S. Neves 6). ASSISTS: 9 (Carriazles 4). STEALS: 13 (Zubia 4). TURNOVERS: 25. FOULS: 18.
Burlington: 17 6 21 15 - 59
Cokeville: 10 14 22 8 - 54
Burlington 61, Meeteetse 51
Burlington: Carrizales 14, Zubia 14, Henderson 9, Wardell 9, S. Neves 6, P. Neves 4, Dehl 3, Flores 2. FG: 22-52. 3-POINTERS: 4-11 (Zubia, Carrizales 2, Wardell). FT: 13-22. REBOUNDS: 23 (Henderson 6, S. Neves 7). ASSISTS: 10 (P. Neves 3). STEALS: 11 (Zubia 3, Carrizales 3, Wardell 3). TURNOVERS: 15. FOULS: 21.
Meeteetse: 8 19 7 17 - 51
Burlington: 15 9 24 13 - 61