The Lady Wolves basketball team knew they had to win at least two games at regionals in order to advance to state.
They won three and took third place at the 4A West Regional Basketball Tournament in Cody this weekend.
On Thursday, the Lady Wolves started off their first game playing against their biggest rivals, the Rock Springs Lady Tigers. Rivalry aside, both teams wanted the win to increase their chances of making it to state. The Lady Wolves came out on top with in this one, 45-36.
“It was a tough, hard fought game,” head coach Rick Carroll said.
He said both teams were nervous coming out to play at regionals for the first time, and even though the Lady Wolves didn’t shoot as well as they normally do, they kept the ball away from Rock Springs key players and rebounded better. They also had a pretty good defensive game.
With the win, the Lady Wolves advanced in the bracket to take on Kelly Walsh on Friday. The game was tight, and Kelly Walsh squeaked away with the win with a shot at the buzzer, 39-38. It was a tough loss for the Lady Wolves, but they had to get over the loss quickly to prepare for their next game. Carroll said the Lady Wolves executed the game plan they came up with against Kelly Walsh very well. They kept track of a few of Kelly Walsh’s key players and it helped.
“That was a tough loss,” Carroll said.
On Saturday at 8:30 a.m., the Lady Wolves took on Cody for a shot at state. They had to win this game to make it. Cody not only had the home-court advantage, but Paige Powell on the team. Powell has already been recruited to play Division 1 basketball after her high-school career. The Lady Wolves didn’t let this intimidate them and played hard and had good defense. Carroll said Powell carried the team, but just couldn’t score enough to get them to state.
“We did enough to get the win to go to state,” Carroll said.
They beat Cody 51-48, but didn’t have to long to celebrate. They had to prepare for their next game, which took place at 3 p.m. Saturday against their rivals the Rock Spring Lady Tigers.
Despite losing to the Lady Wolves, the Lady Tigers won the rest of their games and made their way through the bracket to play for third place. Despite the outcome of this game, both teams knew they already made it to state.
Carroll said this game was a hard game for both teams because both teams were tired from all of the games prior to this one, however, Green River held on for the win, 35-33. The Lady Wolves took third at regionals.
With regionals behind them, the Lady Wolves are preparing for state, which will take place this week in Casper.
The Lady Wolves will take on a team they have never played before, Thunder Basin. Thunder Basin took second at their regional tournament. Carroll said the Lady Wolves will get rested up and prepare for that team. The game against Thunder Basin takes place Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at Casper College.
Leading the team in the first Rock Springs game was Kayde Strauss with 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and one steal, followed by Maddie Heiser with 12 points, three rebounds and six assists.
Leading the team in the Kelly Walsh game was Ashelynn Birch with 12 points, six rebounds and one steal, followed by Strauss with nine points and one rebound.
Leading the team in the Cody game was Heiser with 14 points, three rebounds, five assists and one steal, followed by Brich with 12 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and one block.
Leading the team in the second Rock Springs game was Strauss with seven points and two rebounds, followed by Heiser with seven points, one rebound, two assists and four steals and Sarah Wilson with seven points, one rebound, two assists and one block.
Reader Comments(0)