This was a good tournament. The boys played really hard and even though we didn’t beat LFL, Southeast did a good job.”

Coach Craig Leithead

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The Cyclones commence the 1A state tournament in Casper with a game versus Little Snake River on Thursday at 12 p.m.

UPTON – The Southeast High School Cyclones fought back after a semifinal setback at the 1A East conference tournament in Upton to clinch a ticket to state and the third-place trophy.

Southeast opened the tournament with a routing of Hulett, 54-34, in the quarterfinals on Thursday, February 27.

The Cyclones found themselves up against Lingle-Fort Laramie (LFL) in the semifinals on Friday. LFL ultimately pulled ahead by 10 in the second half to win, 74-64.

The Cyclones dug deep and returned to trounce Hanna-Elk Mountain (HEM), 63-39, in the consolation game early on Saturday to punch their ticket to the 1A state tournament in Casper.

Determined to finish the tournament with a win, Southeast defeated Niobrara County High School, 51-43, in the consolation finals to snag third place.

“This was a good tournament,” coach Craig Leithead said. “The boys played really hard and even though we didn’t beat LFL, Southeast did a good job. (Senior) Ayden Desmond had his best performance of the season at regionals, averaging more than 20 points per game. (Junior) Beaux Shimic did a great job with assists and points as well. The boys really came together with stuff we have been working on over the past few weeks.”

Junior T.J. Moats set a new Southeast High School record in season blocks during the game against Hulett. The previous record stood at 80 season bocks and Moats rounded out the regional tournament with a tally of 91 blocks (and counting).

Southeast opens the state tournament with a game against Little Snake River on Thursday at 12 p.m. in Casper’s Ford Wyoming Center.

“We look forward to playing teams from the western side of the state and seeing where we stand against teams we don’t see much in the regular season,” Leithead added.

Hulett

A neck-and-neck first quarter between Southeast and Hulett ended with the Cyclones ahead, 14-12.

The second quarter remained close as well with Hulett topping Southeast in scoring by one point, 10-9, to narrow the Cyclones’ lead to one point, 23-22, at halftime.

The Cyclones returned to the court packing a punch in the third quarter, tripling Hulett in scoring, 18-6. A buzzer-beater by Beaux Shimic widened Southeast’s advantage to 12 points, 40-28, as the final quarter commenced.

The Cyclones wrapped up their win by more than doubling Hulett in scoring in the fourth quarter, 14-6.

Desmond paced Southeast in scoring against Hulett with 22 points. Beaux Shimic collected 15 points and Moats 11.

Moats led on the boards with eight rebounds. Beaux Shimic grabbed five steals and Moats totaled three blocks.

Lingle-Fort Laramie

A point-for-point battle between Southeast and LFL in the first quarter concluded with the Doggers ahead by one possession, 18-15.

Southeast fought back in the second quarter to outscore LFL, 16-15, reducing the Doggers’ lead to two, 33-31, at half,

LFL pulled ahead in the second half, topping Southeast in scoring, 41-33.

Three Cyclones tallied double-digit scoring against LFL, led by Desmond with 22 points, Beaux Shimic 18 and Moats 15. Senior Kannon Tippetts contributed five points and senior Ayden Shimic four.

Moats grabbed six rebounds while Beaux Shimic and Ayden Shimic both passed the ball for four assists. Desmond snatched four steals and Moats totaled two blocks.

Hanna-Elk Mountain

Southeast won the first quarter against HEM, 16-11. 

An explosive second quarter saw the Cyclones net 20 points while holding HEM to seven, placing Southeast up, 36-18, at halftime.

Southeast pulled out all the stops in the third and fourth quarters to outscore HEM, 27-21, in the second half.

Desmond once again led Southeast in scoring with 24 points. Beaux Shimic tossed in 13 points, Tippetts 10, Moats eight and Ayden Shimic three.

Beaux Shimic delivered six assists, Tippetts snapped up three steals and Moats reached up for seven blocks.

Niobrara County

The Cyclones controlled the scoreboard against the Tigers from the opening possession to the final buzzer.

Southeast pulled ahead of Niobrara County by two possessions in the first quarter, 15-10.

A 14-10 run by the Cyclones in the second quarter widened Southeast’s advantage to 29-20 at halftime.

In the second half, Southeast topped Niobrara County in scoring, 25-20, to seal the win.

Desmond surpassed 20 points in scoring during the game, tallying 25 against the Tigers. Moats collected 13 points, Beaux Shimic eight and Tippetts five.

Moats and Desmond both went double-double against the Tigers with 15 rebounds and 10 rebounds, respectively.

Beaux Shimic filled out the stat sheet with five assists and five steals.