TORRINGTON – The Torrington girls’ basketball team was unable to upset the Douglas Lady Bearcats at home on Friday, 66-57.

The two teams faced each other in Torrington after Douglas picked up a 51-42 win at their home court on Jan. 15.

Despite the away team holding the lead for most of the game, the Lady Trailblazers got off to a strong start with a 9-4 lead thanks to five points from senior Reece Halley and a basket from fellow seniors Mattie Jones and Avery West.

Torrington head coach Jeff Halley said Douglas avoided double teams in the post as opposed to the last time the two teams met.

“This time they gave us single looks and when we looked at them it worked really well,” Halley said.

By the end of the first quarter, Douglas got within two and took advantage of a fastbreak off the missed three from junior Marissa Moorhouse and converted a buzzer beater layup to tie the game at nine.

The turnaround started for Douglas in the second quarter when the offense started getting more open looks especially around the 3-point arc. The Lady Bearcats scored seven straight points in the first minute of the second quarter to jump out to 9-16 lead before freshman Taryn Stokes ended the run with layup.

Douglas continued to put on the pressure late in the first half as the lead grew to 10 points with three minutes to go in the second quarter before Jones sunk a wide open three to make it 18-25.

Second chance opportunities proved to be key for both teams including a play late in the quarter when Senior Sierra Allen took four straight shots in the paint off of three offensive rebounds before getting fouled.

Coach Halley said rebounding was crucial along with a new defense the team implemented just for Douglas.

“We ran one trying to slow down their highest scorer in the state and I thought we did a good job with that which makes everybody else’s job twice as hard because they are out of position,” Halley said. 

Freshman Lauren Olsen for Douglas, who averages 25.6 points per game, was held to seven points against Torrington.

The rest of the Lady Bearcats offense, however, managed to keep control of the lead and even threatened to take a double-digit lead into the second half but Halley picked up a three-point play to end the half 23-29.

The Lady Blazers got off to a run of their own in the third quarter which started on the defensive side with a block from West then led to a corner three from Moorehouse and a layup from Allen. Torrington had its opponent on its heels after West banked in a three to take a two-point lead forcing a timeout for the Lady Bearcats.

Coach Halley attributed his team’s success at the start of the second half to being able to attack more on the offensive side of the ball.

“We came out and played more like ourselves. We didn’t play timid,” Halley said. We were a little more aggressive and took shots we know we can make and that’s kind of the difference.”

The two teams traded baskets after the time out including six points from Reece Halley. As the third quarter came to a close, Douglas scored nine straight to go up 50-41.

The Lady Bearcats took a 10-point lead for the second time in the game after Olsen hit a three to go up 53-43.

Coach Halley said his team started to lose their aggressiveness late in the game similar to the end of the first half.

“In the second quarter we got timid and early fourth quarter we got timid. That was kind of the difference.”

THS managed to stay within nine points before Douglas dribbled out the clock to pick up the team’s 17th win and stay second in the state.

Halley led the Lady Blazers with another double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while West had 11 points.

Coach Halley acknowledged Douglas’ dominance through the years and said his team needs to make adjustments to compete on the same level.

“There’s a difference between playing a good team and a great team and that’s a great team,” Halley said. “They have been forever, we got to find a way to get to that next level.”

Torrington dropped to 9-9 on the season and will face Wheatland (5-13) away on Friday, Feb. 18. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.