DOUGLAS – The Lingle-Fort Laramie High School girls’ basketball team went 2-2 at the Class 1A East Regional Tournament in Douglas to qualify for this weekend’s state basketball tournament in Casper.
The Lady Doggers opened the weekend with a 51-44 win over Arvada-Clearmont.
L-FL led 12-11 after one, doubling the lead to 26-24 at the half.
“We came out slow and sluggish,” L-FL coach Matt Cornelius said. “We didn’t play well, but in the clutch when we needed some points, we got them.”
By the end of the third quarter, Arvada-Clearmont took a 39-37 lead.
The Lady Panther lead reached as many as three with 4:55 remaining in the game, but it took the Lady Doggers less than three minutes to have a six-point swing to a three-point advantage with 2:15 left in the game.
Over the remainder of the game, L-FL pulled away for the seven-point victory.
“I got to give a shout out to M’Lynn Hill,” Cornelius said. “She hit some big-time shots under the basket late.”
Seniors Kelcie Sargent and Ashley Riley led the Doggers with 14 points each.
The next day, Lingle jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but the Upton Bobcats countered with a 13-2 run to take a 15-9 lead after one quarter.
“They are a solid team from top to bottom,” Cornelius said. “They are in the top two or three in the state of Wyoming, and we gave them all they wanted tonight. We made a couple mental mistakes, but we are playing with some very young players who stepped up in some pretty big roles.”
A Riley 3-pointer and a free throw by sophomore Tiah Meyer brought back the Lady Doggers back within two, and that proved to be as close as L-FL came to seeing the lead for the remainder of the game.
“We needed to give them an almost perfect game if were to beat them,” Cornelius said.
Upton’s lead reached as many as 10 midway through the fourth quarter.
Riley led the Lady Doggers with 22 points, while Sargent added 12.
The loss dropped L-FL to a must-win situation against the Hanna-Elk Mountain Lady Miners on Saturday morning.
“Our girls are going to chill out, regroup and get back in the game,” Cornelius said. “Hopefully, we are going give them a pretty damn good game and hopefully punch our ticket to the state tournament.”
The Lady Doggers came away with a 41-35 win.
Sargent led her team with 14 points, while Riley added 11.
The win locked the L-FL girls team into the state tournament, and on Saturday afternoon, the Lady Doggers fell to Rock River 47-39 in a game which determined the team’s seeding for state.
Sargent led the team with 14 points, while Riley tossed in 10.
The Lady Doggers opened the Class 1A State Tournament against the Cokeville Panthers on Thursday evening. The state tournament wraps up on Saturday in Casper.
