TORRINGTON – After a quiet opening to the game, the Southeast Lady Cyclones got their offense kickstarted and didn’t look back, besting the Lingle-Fort Laramie Lady Doggers on Saturday in Torrington, 44-27.

L-FL’s Jade Cooper hit the first bucket of the game to put the Lady Doggers up 3-0, but the Lady Cyclones would come roaring back and take a 13-5 lead after the first frame. To close out the second quarter, Southeast’s Ellie Schmitt knocked down a three in the final 30 seconds of the stanza to give the Lady Cyclones a 24-9 lead at the break.

“We got a couple early buckets and that really helped get us going early,” Southeast coach Jennifer Scheer said. “I thought our defense played tremendous the first couple of minutes as well. Our defense is always going to be important for us.”

Returning to the floor, Southeast continued rolling, limiting the Lady Doggers to five points in the third frame, while putting up 13 points of their own. L-FL started to put together a run in the fourth quarter, opening the frame on an 8-1 run to trim the lead to 38-22 with 4:45 left on the clock, but Southeast closed the door on the run, cruising to the 44-27 win.

Southeast’s Schmitt paced all scorers with 15 points in the win. She complimented her scoring with eight boards, including four on offense. Hailey Anderson was second on the team in scoring with 14 points. She was one board away from a double-double, leading the Lady Cyclones with nine rebounds. Anderson also notched four assists, while Schmitt came away with four boards.

“You always talk about athletes that have a never-stop attitude. Those two have a big motor,” Scheer said of Schmitt and Anderson. “They never stop and I’m just lucky to have two kids that are that driven. Their work ethic speaks for itself.”

Kaelynn Riley paced the Lady Doggers with 14 points to her credit, including a three-pointer, and she also notched a rebound in the loss.

“Kaelynn’s athleticism is a very good asset to our team,” L-FL coach Matt Cornelius said of Riley who transferred from Torrington before this school year. “She has stepped up and been an assest and been implemented into our arsenal.”

Cooper joined Riley in double-figures with 10 points to her credit, with six of those points coming from behind the arc. The senior also kicked in four boards and an assist.

Shelby Heilbrun’s three points rounded out the scoring for the Lady Doggers. Heilbrun also had three rebounds and a steal. Ashley Riley paced L-FL in rebounds, with five, and steals, with two. Savannah Mirich recorded four rebounds and a steal, while Torey Bever also had a rebound.

The victory over their county rivals puts the Lady Cyclones at 6-5 this year, with all of their conference games still remaining on the schedule. Southeast begins its conference schedule on the road Friday against Lusk, starting at 5:30 p.m.

“It’s one game at a time for us. It’s nice to win against Lingle, but it’s just one game at a time at this point in the year,” Scheer said. “Lusk is a tremendous basketball team. I’m going to put the best matchup I can against them and we will go toe-to-toe against anyone who takes the floor against us.”

Lusk 79, L-FL 22

The Lady Doggers stormed out of the gates on the road Friday against Lusk, pouring in 13 points in the first frame. After the first eight minutes of action, the Lady Tigers limited L-FL to three points in the second, four in the third and two in the fourth.

“We are still growing as a team,” Cornelius said. “We haven’t changed our goals and we haven’t abandoned ship, but this weekend was a minor setback. The girls were not satisfied with how the weekend went and we just have to get to work.”

Cooper topped the scoring sheet in Friday’s contest, turning in eight points, including six from behind the arc. Cooper also led the Lady Doggers with six rebounds, while tallying an assist and a steal.

Ashley Riley chipped in four points, five rebounds, a steal and a team-high four assists. Kaelynn Riley and Kelcie Sargent each added three points, while combining for five rebounds, an assist and two steals. Rounding out the scoring, Mirich and Bever contributed two points apiece. Heilbrun had two boards in the loss.

After the two losses over the weekend, the Lady Doggers sit at 4-6 on the year. They return to action Thursday when they hit the road to take on Guernsey-Sunrise with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.

“We can’t take Guernsey lightly, they’re a good little team,” Cornelius said. “It’s a good week to get back to what we do best. We don’t really get any weeks off (with the tough upcoming schedule), which is a good thing.”