Lady Huskies take second place at regional tournament

The Lady Huskies had a strong showing at the Class 1A West Regional in Lander this past weekend, taking second place overall. 

Saratoga was the first opponent for the Lady Huskies. “They kept driving in on us and it took us a bit to decide to move our feet and rotate on our help defense,” said Coach Cheryl Haslam. “Saratoga was ready to play and I think that may have been a bit of a shock to the girls right away. They quickly figured out that they were going to have to work a little harder than they anticipated and it got much better throughout the game.” Saratoga kept it tight with the Lady Huskies during the first quarter but Burlington gained momentum in the next two quarters and maintained its lead throughout, winning 56-40.

 “I was really impressed with our free throw percentage this game. We have struggled with our free throws the last few weeks, so this was great to see.” The team shot 83% from the line, with Breanne Walker and Jessie Michaels both at 100%. Michaels led the team with 15 points and Naomi McNiven was close behind with 13 points and three steals. Dalley Bassett led rebounding with 13 boards and added eight points. 

Next up, the Lady Huskies took on Little Snake River. “We knew we were going to have to work hard to win this one. They have been ranked all year and have had pretty equal stats to us throughout the season. The girls played really well for a whole game. They were working hard on defense and slowing the pace on offense. We’ve worked a ton on controlling the pace of the game and they did a great job with it this game.” 

The score was close throughout, but the Lady Huskies maintained their lead and had an impressive fourth quarter, scoring 21 points. “This game we knew that we needed to work on shutting down their two bigs. They work really well together and hurt a lot of teams they play on the inside. The girls did a great job shutting them down. We had some crucial three pointers at a time when Little Snake was catching up and that helped us keep the lead.” 

The Lady Huskies went on to win, 54-45. Walker led scorers with 13 points. N. McNiven was close behind with 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Paxton Philpott and Michaels each contributed 10 points. Bassett once again led in rebounds with 10 boards, had seven assists and two points. 

The win advanced the Huskies to the championship game where they played Cokeville for the fourth year in a row. In each previous championship game, Cokeville prevailed. This year offered more of the same. “I really thought the girls were ready to go, but that was not the case when we stepped on the court,” said Haslam. “We came out and did not play the game that we know how to play. The girls were playing panic ball, making turnovers we haven’t made in a long time and overall losing their minds.” Cokeville jumped to an early lead and surprised the Lady Huskies with a 24-5 end of first quarter score. “That ultimately ended up being the difference in the game. We just couldn’t recover.” 

The Lady Huskies came out stronger in the third quarter and outscored Cokeville 15-10 and kept it close in the fourth quarter, but could not overcome the damaging first quarter, losing 69-46. “It was a really disappointing loss, but we had some good conversations after the game and I hope it won’t affect their play at state. I hope that we learn from it and go up from here,” ended Haslam. 

Michaels led the team with 13 points, five rebounds, three steals and four assists. N. McNiven added 10 points. 

The Lady Huskies are headed to the state tournament in Casper and will play Rock River in the first round at 9 a.m. today (Thursday, Feb. 29).

Saratoga 11 10 11 8 — 40

Burlington 14 17 17 8 — 56

BURLINGTON — Walker 1-10 4-4 6, Call 1-5 0-0 2, Philpott 1-6 1-2 3, Preator 1-1 0-0 2, Michaels 4-14 6-6 15, N. McNiven 5-11 3-4 13, Winterholler 1-4 0-0 2, Bassett 4-16 0-0 8, S. McNiven 2-11 1-2 5. Totals 20-80 15-18 56. 

REBOUNDS — Burlington 40 (Bassett 13). STEALS — Burlington 18 (Philpott, N. McNiven 3). ASSISTS — Burlington 12 (Walker 4, Call 3). TURNOVERS — Burlington 14. 

Little Snake River 10 6 13 16 — 45

Burlington 12 9 12 21 — 54 

BURLINGTON — Walker 4-16 2-2 13, Call 0-3 1-2 1, Philpott 4-6 0-1 10, Michaels 5-15 0-0 10, N. McNiven 5-14 1-1 11, Winterholler 0-2 2-2 2, Bassett 1-11 1-2 3, S. McNiven 2-6 0-2 4. Totals 21-73 7-12 54. 

3-POINT GOALS — Walker 3, Philpott 2. REBOUNDS — Burlington 38 (Bassett 10, N. McNiven 8). STEALS — Burlington 18 (Bassett 7). ASSISTS — Burlington 13 (N. McNiven 5). TURNOVERS — Burlington 22. 

Cokeville 24 16 10 19 — 69

Burlington 5 11 15 15 — 46 

BURLINGTON — Walker 2-11 3-4 8, Philpott 3-6 0-1 6, Michaels 4-14 5-6 13, N. McNiven 4-12 2-4 10, Winterholler 2-4 0-0 4, Bassett 2-5 0-2 5. Totals 17-56 10-17 46. 

3-POINT GOALS — Walker 1, Bassett 1. REBOUNDS — Burlington 26 (Michaels, Winterholler 5). STEALS — Burlington 10 (Michaels 3). ASSISTS — Burlington 9 (Michaels 4). TURNOVERS — Burlington 25.