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March 11, 2010 The Lovell Chronicle I 9
Lady Bulldogs finish season on a high note
BY DAVID PECK
It is said that one of the
tests of a good team is how
the team bounces back from
a tough loss. If so, give the
Lovell Lady Bulldogs an A-
plus for their effort Saturday
against Wyoming Indian in
the wake of Friday's semifi-
nal loss to Big Horn.
Lovell shook offthe post-
loss blues Saturday morn-
ing and defeated the Lady
Chiefs 55-46 at Casper Col-
lege, avenging the previous
Saturday night's loss to the
Chiefs in the 3A West Re-
gional title game and giving
the Lady Bulldogs a 3-1 re-
cord against their longtime
foe for the season.
"We didn't know what to
expect Saturday," coach Bob
Geiser said. 'Te thought
whoever wants to be here the
most will win. Both teams
were coming off a loss. Both
teams saw their dreams
shattered. We asked the kids
are you going to give us the
'poor me' routine or are you
going to play one more time
together this year."
Wyoming Indian jumped
on top 12-5 early as junior
Ambrosia Brugh ran the
floor hard and converted
early turnovers into baskets.
But a three-point play by
Stephanie Green - jumper
and free throw - launched
a 9-0 run for the Lady Bull-
dogs that gave them a 14-12
lead after the first period.
Katie Walker sank a three-
pointer late in the quarter,
and Alyssa Geiser fmished
the run with a long jumper
after a Lovell offensive re-
bound.
"They came out with
more energy than we did,"
Geiser said. "But they
couldn't sustain it and we
gathered energy. By the
middle of the first quarter
we were starting to play like
we normally do."
Wyoming Indian tied
the score early in the second,
then took a 17-1.4 .Read On a
Karen Koritnik takes care of the ball against a Wyoming Indian defender while looking for an open
teammate to pass to. The Lady Bulldogs finished up the state tournament with a 55-46 win against WI for
third place.
Kirsti O'Neal three-pointer
from Powder River. Karen
Koritnik then led a 9-2 run
for Lovell that left the Lady
Bulldogs up 23-19. Koritnik
hit two free throws, a power
put-back, a go-the-distance
fast break and a slashing
drive on a pass from Gei-
ser. Later, Mykel Ander-
son's jumper gave the Lady
Bulldogs a 28-23 lead at the
half.
O'Neal's bomb was her
only trey of the game, and
Geiser praised the work of
Green on the Wyoming Indi-
"Stephanie was in her
face," the coach said. "She's
quick enough to guard her
outside and tall enough that
she's hard to shoot over.
Stephanie had another big
game. Big players step up
in big games. She's done it
since her sophomore year."
Alyssa Geiser started
the second half with a trey
for the Lady Bulldogs. Wy-
oming Indian twice rallied
to within one point at 31-30
and 33-32, but Lovell fin-
ished the third quarter with
a 9-6 edge to lead 40-36 af-
an senior, also noting Korit- ter three. Erin Roberton had
tk's defense, two baskets during the run,
Green and Katie Walker one
each. Koritnik had two as-
sists.
Lovell pulled out to an
eight-point lead, 44-36, ear-
ly in the fourth period, but
a runner by Anneshia Hill
and a trey by Ranell Oldman
cut the deficit to three with a
little more than five minutes
left in the game. In the final
five minutes, the Lady Bull-
dogs went to the foul line
12 times, hitting nine free
throws. Koritnik was sev-
en of eight during the final
stretch as" Lovell sealed the
55-46 win.
Lovell finished the:game
shooting 34 percent from the
field, Wyoming Indian 28.6
percent, but the big differ-
ence in the game came at the
foul line and from beyond the
arc. Lovell went to the free-
throw line 32 times, hitting
21, while Wyoming Indian
was six of 11. Lovell hit two
of six three-point attempts,
while the Lady Chiefs fired
up 23 long bombs, connecting
on just four (17.4 percent).
"We took away a lot of
their threes," Geiser said.
"We forced them out of their
comfort zone. We pushed
them out further and made
them move their feet."
Koritnik fmished with 15
points, hitting nine of 10 free
throws, and six rebounds,
Green 13 points and 10 re-
bounds for a double-double.
Robertson added 7 points
and seven rebounds, Katie
Walker 7 points and six car-
oms. Anderson had 6 points
and five boards.
Lovell out-rebounded
Wyoming Indian 51-32.
"It was nice to come
away with some hardware at
the end of the season," Gei-
ser said. "Only three teams
finish with a win, and it's
nice to be one of them."
Geiser said the Lady
Bulldogs played ranked
teams 16 times and won 10
of the 16 games, including
three over Wyoming Indian.
"It's hard for anybody to
beat Wyoming Indian once,
let alone three times in a
year," he said. "And they
were ranked all year. I don't
think Lovell has ever done
that."
The Lady Bulldogs fin-
ished the season 22-6, Wyo-
ming Indian 22:5. Saturday's
game was the final contest
for seniors Katie Walker,
Green, Anderson and Kee-
sha Savage.
The box score:
WYO. INDIAN (46)
Kailyn Washakie 0 0-0 0, Ranell Oldman
4 1-3 12, Anneshia Hill 1 0-0 2, Kristen
Washakie 1 0-0 2, Antonia Valdez 2 0-0 4,
Kimberly Goggles 0 0.6 0, Jocelyn Under-
wood 0 0-0 0, Kirsti O'Neal 1 0-0 3, Courtney
Smil 5 1-2 11,Ambrosia Brugh 4 4-6 12.
Totals 18 6-11 46.
LOVELL (55)
Alyssa Geiser 2 0-0 5, Jodi Walker 0 2-24 2,
Katie Walker 2 2-4 7, Leanne Winterholler
0 0-0 0, Karen Koritnik 3 9-10 16, Keesha
Savage 0 0-0 0, Susie Shumway 0 0-0 0,
Brandi Abraham 0 0-0 0, Stephanie Green 4
5-7:13, Edn Robertson 2 3-7 7, Mirandi Griffis
0 0-0 0; Mykel Anderson 3 0-0 6. Totals 16
21-32 55.
WlHS 12 11 t3 10-46
Lovell 14 14 12 15-45
Three-point field goals - Oldman 3, O'Neet !;
Geiser 1, K. Walker 1. Fouled out- Kristen
Washakie. Total fouls- Wyo. Indian 21,
Lovel115.
Defeat Moorcroft
Bulldogs win consolation title at State
BY DAVID PECK
It's always good to fin-
ish the season on a high
note, and the Lovell Bull-
dogs did just that Saturday
afternoon as they edged
the Moorcroft Wolves for
the state 2A consolation
championship at Casper
College, 49-47.
The Bulldogs finished
the season with back-to-
back victories and an over-
all record of 18-10 in a re-
building year.
The game was the final
contest for seniors Kade
Baxendale, Zac Haskell
and Jonathan Wakelin.
"Our big focus was to
go out for the seniors, play
well for them and play well
for each other to gain some
momentum for next year,"
coach Brian May said. "I
thought the kids respond-
ed and played well.
"There were times
when I thought we'd run
away with it, but they kept
battling back. When we
beat the press we wanted
to attack the basket, but
we didn't always do that.
The two teams trad-
ed baskets early, but after
Moorcroft led 7-5 midway
through the first quar-
ter, Lovell outscored the
Wolves 8-2 the rest of the
period to lead 13-9 at the
break. Wakelin worked for
two inside on a pass from
Tyrel Harrison, Harri-
son fed Jeff Lewis for two
points in transition, Harri-
son hit a jumper and Lewis
finished the run with a fol-
low shot.
Lovell had three three-
point leads in the second
quarter, but Moorcroft ral-
lied late to knot the score
at halftime, 21-21.
The Bulldogs gained a
five-point edge with a 6-1
run early in the third peri-
od as Harrison hit two bas-
kets and Cody Savage one,
and a late 5-0 run put the
Bulldogs up by eight points
after three, 38-30. Har-
rison hit a jumper in the
lane and Haskell convert-
ed a spinning, left-handed
hook shot and free throw.
Moorcroft rallied late
in the fourth quarter, al-
though a follow jumper by
Savage and three buckets
by Lewis, including a trey,
had the Bulldogs up 47-
38 with three minutes to
play. DeeJay Hacklin hit
an inside bank shot for the
Wolves, and Miles Blake-
man knocked down a trey,
cutting the lead to four, 47-
43.
Over the last minute
and a half, the score got too
close for comfort for Lovell
fans as Moorcroft sent
Lovell to the foul line six
times, but the Bulldogs hit
only two - a pair by Lew-
is with 55 seconds to play.
Meanwhile, Blakeman had
hit another trey, and Lovell
led by just three, 49-46.
Blakeman hit one of
two at the line with 45 sec-
onds left, making the score
49-47, and Lovell played
good defense to force a
Moorcroft miss while miss-
ing the front end of one-
plus-the-bonus foul shots
twice in the last 36 sec-
onds.
Moorcroft had the ball
with six seconds left on the
clock, with a chance to tie
or take the lead. Blakeman
pushed the ball up the
floor, but Baxendale rode
him hard without fouling.
The Moorcroft senior failed
to get a shot off by the time
the final buzzer sounded,
and the Bulldogs celebrat-
ed their consolation chbn-
pionship.
'Tfhat I appreciate
about our boys at the tail
end is that while Moorcroft
was coming back, our boys
didn't listen to the crowd
and maintained a good
head and weathered the
storm," May said. 'Tee got
i
See BOYS, page 11
DAVID lCK
Colin May makes a move to the hoop during the
Bulldogs' bout against Moorcroft at State. The
Bulldogs edged by with a 49-47 win Saturday against
Moorcroft for the consolation championship.
State basketball
Lady Bulldogs top "
Southeast ini'00 first round
BY DAVID PECK
First-day, open-
ing-m0rning games
at the state basket-
ball tournament are
always tough to play,
but the Lovell Lady
Bulldogs prevailed
over the South-
east Cyclones 36-26
Thursday morning
at Casper College to
advance to the semi-
finals.
Southeast came
into the game as the
third seed from the
East Regional and
riding a three-game
winning streak, but
the Lady Bulldogs
quickly established
themselves early
in the game, tak-
ing an early 9-2 lead
as Karen Koritnik
scored 6 points on a
three-pointer, a fol-
low shot and a free
throw. Alyssa Geiser
converted a steal into
two points on a pass '
from Mykel Ander-
son and Stephanie
Green added a free
throw.
After looking
good early, however, the
Lady Bulldogs began stand-
ing around on offense and
struggled a bit, perhaps
feeling the mid-morning
doldrums. Southeast scored
the last two buckets of the
quarter to trail just 9-6 af-
ter one.
Coach Bob Geiser had
predicted that the game
would be a battle of wills
when it came to tempo, with
the Lady Bulldogs wanting
to push the ball and run,
.while Southeast preferred
a slower half-court game.
"We made a run to get
the lead, and then they took
the air out of the ball," Gei-
ser explained. "Instead of
pushing the ball, which we
DAvm lc
Lovell senior Mykel Anderson
floats to the basket to sink a
two-pointer against Southeast
Thursday, March 4.
should have, we bought into
their half-court style and
didn't run the floor like we
normally do, Thank good-
ness we executed like we
did on offense and knocked
down free throws."
Though still a bit slug-
gish on offense, the Lady
Bulldogs continued to play
strong defense in the sec-
ond period and allowed
only a single basket while
outscoring the Cyclones
9-4. Katie Walker scored 4
points in the quarter, Gei-
ser hit a trey and Anderson
hit two free throws. Levell
led 18-10 at halftime.
"We played well defen-
sively," Geiser said. "Of-
fensively, we were off our
See GIRLS,' page 10
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