Huskies Northwest Conference Champs

The state’s 1A and 2A basketball teams completed their regular seasons last weekend. The Burlington Huskies finished on a high note with conference wins over Ten Sleep and Riverside. At 16-7 overall and 9-1 in league play, they will head into the Class 1A West Regional in Lander as the Northwest’s No. 1 seed.

Burlington hosted Ten Sleep on Friday and the game started close with the Huskies leading 31-22 at halftime. They picked up speed in the second half and won, 65-37.

Bitner Philpott led scorers with 22 points and five rebounds. Kole Walker added 11 points and seven steals. M. James McNiven had seven points, nine rebounds and three assists.  

Saturday, the Huskies hosted Riverside for Senior Night, honoring their one senior Paul McNiven. The game started slowly with the Huskies first basket not coming until halfway through the first quarter. The Huskies hit their stride in the second quarter, scoring 23 points to Riverside’s 7. Riverside made a run in the final quarter but it wasn’t enough and the Huskies won 57-35. 

Philpott led with 14 points and seven rebounds. Matt Tempany added in 10 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists. M.J. McNiven grabbed 10 boards and two points. 

“The first half of both of these games was a little slow,” said Coach Dale Cook. “Typically with our team, we’re able to pick it up in the second half. We’ve got more kids to pull from and it really turns into a team effort. Our bench does a great job coming in and really helping everyone out.” 

Burlington has spent the last couple of weeks focusing on defense and are seeing the payoffs. “In both of these games the defense made the difference, especially with our steals and transition points,” Cook said. “They had a nice defensive effort and of course that helps out the offense.” 

The Huskies will face Farson-Eden on Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Field House in Lander. They beat Farson early in the season but Coach Cook says every team is a different team at this point in the season. “We will have to play some good ball in Lander to get to where we need to be.”

Ten Sleep  10  12   6  11 – 37 

Burlington  14  17 19  15 – 65

BURLINGTON – Philpott 8-15 5-6 22, Walker 4-9 1-2 11, M.J. McNiven 2-6 3-4 7, Tempany 3-5 1-2 7, J.W. McNiven 2-5 0-0 5, P. McNiven 2-11 0-0 4, Bassett 2-7 0-0 4, T. Winters 1-3 0-0 2, Casey 0-0 2-2 2, Cook 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 24-63 13-18 65. 

3-POINT GOALS – Walker 2, Philpott 1, J.W. McNiven 1. REBOUNDS – Burlington 40 (M.J. McNiven 9, T. Winters 7, Tempany 6, Philpott 5. STEALS – Burlington 19 (Walker 7, P. McNiven 4). ASSISTS – Burlington 12 (M.J. McNiven 3). TURNOVERS – Burlington 9. 

Riverside    4   7     8  16 – 35

Burlington 10  23  16    8 – 57

BURLINGTON – Philpott 5-14 4-4 14, Tempany 3-7 4-6 10, Bassett 4-11 0-0 8, Walker 2-9 2-2 7, J.W. McNiven 3-4 0-0 6, P. McNiven 2-9 0-0 5, T. Winters 1-3 1-2 3, M.J. McNiven 1-3 0-0 2, Casey 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 22-67 11-14 57. 

3-POINT GOALS – Walker 1, P. McNiven 1. REBOUNDS – Burlington 50 (M.J. McNiven 10, Philpott 7, Tempany 6, Walker 6, P. McNiven 5). STEALS – Burlington 13 (Tempany 4, Walker 3). ASSISTS – Burlington 6 (Walker 4, Tempany 2). TURNOVERS – Burlington 12.