Lady Doggers open the season with a win

Andrew Towne
Posted 12/16/22

BURNS – The Lingle-Fort Laramie girls’ basketball team began the season with a dominating win over Class 2A East Regional foe Big Horn before dropping two straight to a pair of 3A teams at the Burns Winter Classic last weekend.

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Lady Doggers open the season with a win

Posted

BURNS – The Lingle-Fort Laramie girls’ basketball team began the season with a dominating win over Class 2A East Regional foe Big Horn before dropping two straight to a pair of 3A teams at the Burns Winter Classic last weekend.

On Friday morning, the Lady Doggers opened the season with a 49-19 win over the Big Horn Lady Rams.

LFL grabbed a 10-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, extending it to 27-9 by halftime. 

However, second-year coach Susan Bartel said there were some of the typical first-game jitters.

“The team started out with some first-game jitters and then settled in against Big Horn,” she said. “I’m happy with the way the girls played, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.”

The Lady Doggers outscored Big Horn 22-10 over the final 16 minutes of the game.

Seniors Ashlee Hattan and Kamryn Rafferty led the team with 12 points each. Freshman Jordynn Speckner added six. In all 10, Lady Doggers contributed at least one point in the win.

In the Friday evening night cap, the Moorcroft handed LFL its first loss of the season 64-53.

The Lady Doggers were slow out of the gates in the first half, but in the second half, Lingle managed to close the gap to as few as 10 in the closing minutes.

“We came out flat. It was a long day. We had been there the whole day, and it was a late afternoon game,” Bartel said. “The girls came out flat, but we got them pumped up at halftime.”

Moorcroft held a 38-16 lead at the break before LFL made its comeback attempt.

“We focused on playing good defense and continuing to run our type of game,” Bartel said. “I’m proud of the way the girls didn’t quit. I told them at half, we aren’t quitting. We are going to go back out and fight.”

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Doggers poured in 25 points, cutting the deficit to 63-53 with under 30 seconds to play in the contest.

“That second half is what I like to see,” Bartel said. “The girls worked together, and the shots were falling. They were really syncing as a team.”

Junior Natalie Speckner led the team with 18 points, six rebounds and seven steals. Freshman Skyla Wunder added seven points, while Jordynn Speckner tossed in six.

On Saturday, the Lady Doggers wrapped up the classic with a 63-25 loss to the Newcastle Lady Dogies.

Newcastle did most of its damage in the first quarter, scoring 40 points.

“Newcastle was a shot on the chin. They are a really good team, but my team didn’t play as well as they could have.”

The Lady Doggers showed some life in the third quarter.

“In the third quarter, we have a few minutes – maybe half a quarter – of some good ball,” Bartel said. “We need to get a whole ballgame together. We have a lot of talent, and this team is going to do a lot of great things.”

Hattan led the team with six points, while senior Maddy Saul added five.

The Doggers (1-2) host the LFL Dogger Classic Friday and Saturday. On Friday, Lingle plays Kyacee at 10 a.m. and Hulett at 2:30 p.m. The next day, the Doggers play Encampment at 9 a.m. and Rock River at 1:30 p.m.

“It will be nice to gauge where we are at compared to this time last year based on playing these teams again,” Bartel said. “The girls have been working hard and played a lot in the offseason. We are excited to see where this team goes.”