RAWLINS – The Torrington High School girls’ basketball team returned to the win column in dominating fashion on the road against the Rawlins Lady Outlaws.
The Lady Blazers got off to a strong start and carried the momentum through the entire game in a 65-48 victory.
“We really got off to a good start and jumped on Rawlins from the start,” THS coach Jeff Halley said. “For the most part, we made better decisions and worked together well on offense. We really got some good looks and made some shots.”
The Lady Blazers raced out to a 24-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, extending it to 35-20 by halftime.
In the second half as Torrington pushed its lead to as many as 20, it allowed Halley to turn to the bench.
“We got some good minutes from everyone after we got the lead up over 20,” he said.
In the third quarter, THS’ lead grew by three points, outscoring the Lady Outlaws 17-14, and in the fourth quarter, Rawlins outscored Torrington 14-13.
A total of nine Lady Blazers ended up in the scoring column in the win, led by Junior Reece Halley with 16 points. She also grabbed a team-high 16 rebounds. Junior AJ West added 13 points, while junior Mattie Jones had nine points and dished out nine assists.
As a team, the Lady Blazers shot 40% (25-for-62) from the floor and 80% (8-of-10) from the free throw line.
The win secures the No. 2 seed for the upcoming 3A Southeast Quadrant Tournament.
Torrington (9-9 overall and 4-2 in the 3A Southeast) has to turn around and play the same Rawlins team, who is the No. 3 seed for the quadrant tournament. This time, a trip to the Wyoming Class 3A State Tournament in Casper is on the line.
“We will need that intensity and success as we turn around and play Rawlins again in a (state) play in quad game on Thursday,” Halley said. “They will come in and play hard, and we will need to match that intensity again on our defensive end to be successful.”
Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Willi Gym in Torrington. The winner advances to play the winner of Wheatland and Burns. The winners will meet at 7 p.m. for the right to play the winner of the Northeast Quadrant Tournament on Saturday.
