Digging deep to reach potential

“We did what we needed to do. We started to peak at the right time and the kids all rose to the occasion. The girls dug down deep to reach their potential and played their guts out.””

Coach Jennifer Scheer

CASPER – Fans representing every sector of the Southeast High School community packed a section of the Ford Wyoming Center to support the Lady Cyclones in their showdown against the Upton Lady Bobcats for the 1A State Championship on March 2.

The entire Southeast boys’ basketball team filled out seats, along with coaches, parents, teachers, relatives, students and community members – the possibility exists that a significant proportion of southern Goshen County was present and accounted for in Casper on Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Cyclones tipped off against familiar foes.

“We played Upton for the past three years for both the state championship and regional championship, so we know this team,” senior Baylie Booth said. “We knew what we were going to have to do to come out and win. We knew we had to play hard the entire game. There wasn’t a moment where we felt like we had this.”

Upton won the first quarter by a single point, 8-7. A gritty Lady Cyclones offense netted 10 points in the second quarter, anchored by an outside shot from senior Sasha Haines. A determined Southeast defense held Upton to six points in the second quarter and the Lady Cyclones snagged the lead, 17-14, at halftime.

Haines netted a second 3-pointer midway into the third quarter, widening Southeast’s advantage, 23-19. Upton managed to tie the game, 23-23, before sophomore Hadley Leithead took possession and drained a close-range shot.

Fellow sophomore Kaycee Kosmicki snatched a steal and Booth tossed in a free throw. Taking aim as the buzzer sounded, Booth sank a deep outside shot and Southeast entered the final quarter ahead, 29-25. 

Booth and Kosmicki commenced the final eight minutes of regulation with a 3-pointer apiece, giving the Lady Cyclones breathing room in the point-for-point duel on the court.

“When Baylie, Sasha and Kaycee hit those threes (throughout the game), it really brought up our energy,” senior Kylee Llewellyn said. “Those big plays put points on the board and really got us going.”

The Lady Bobcats managed to close the Lady Cyclones’ lead to a single point, 39-38, with 38 seconds remaining in regulation.

The final seconds came down to a battle at the free-throw line that the Lady Cyclones soundly won, thanks to Kosmicki shooting 6-for-8 from the charity stripe to seal the state championship victory for Southeast, 45-40.

“Free throws win championships,” Kylee Llewellyn said. “And defense.”

Kosmicki drained a pair of free throws seconds before the final buzzer sounded and the realization hit that the Lady Cyclones won their second state championship in only three years.

“We proved to ourselves that we can be here three different times, back-to-back,” Booth said. “We won one, lost one, and now we got this one done.”

Sophomore Keana Llewellyn described the win as an “amazing experience – a feeling you won’t be able to experience often, so take it when you get it.”

The Lady Cyclones’ triumph “proved everybody wrong,” Haines added.

“We were able to beat the best in the state and show people what we could do,” Haines said.

Junior Brooklyn Leithead agreed.

“Not many people get to come to the state championships three times in a row,” Brooklyn Leithead said. “To win twice is just unreal.”

“I’m pumped!” said Kosmicki.

Embracing the underdog mentality

The Lady Cyclones’ road to the state championship was not a guarantee throughout the season, with a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs. The WyoPreps Coaches and Media polls frequently placed other teams above Southeast during the season – ranking teams like Cokeville, Little Snake River and Upton higher, despite Southeast’s nearly undefeated conference record.

The Lady Cyclones garnered second at regionals after falling to Upton the previous week. 

“We came into regionals and state with a zero-zero mentality, which means that nobody’s record is perfect,” Booth said. “Everybody just goes in and plays. We wanted to prove to everyone that we could win and that this team is not what everybody (in the polls) has said it’s going to be.”

The state tournament commenced with the Lady Cyclones squaring off against the Little Snake River (LSR) Lady Rattlers. LSR found itself ahead, 20-13, at halftime.

Refusing to yield the court, Southeast battled back in a sustained effort over the third and fourth quarters to not only close the deficit but overtake the Lady Rattlers. 

“We live and die by the mentality of having the memory of a goldfish,” Booth said. “Once a setback happens, it’s gone and you move forward.”

The Lady Cyclones’ exceptional team chemistry played a significant role in Southeast pulling itself up in the second half.

“As a team, we’re all super close and support each other and that helps us get out of our heads,” said sophomore Hadley Leithead.

Haines netted a pair of outside shots early in the fourth quarter, pulling Southeast ahead, 31-29.

Kylee Llewellyn and Kosmicki scored crucial points from the charity stripe as Booth and Haines grabbed steals in the final minutes of regulation for the Lady Cyclones to triumph against LSR, 35-31.

“Being the underdog really pushed us to all work together, cheer for each other and get hyped,” Kosmicki said.

“You gotta take the hate from everybody else and let if fuel you to win,” Keana Llewellyn agreed.

Despite a “slow start” in the first quarter against LSR, Southeast rallied with halftime adjustments to prevail against “one of the best teams in Wyoming,” coach Jennifer Scheer said.

“The kids kept the foundation underway in the second half and responded well to the game plan.”

Knocking out the big dogs

Cokeville entered the semifinals against Southeast at state tournament with an undefeated conference record and a single loss on the season.

Brushing off polls and stats and expectations, the Lady Cyclones controlled the scoreboard through each quarter against Cokeville.

A fast and furious Southeast offense established an overwhelming 16-6 advantage for the Lady Cyclones at the end of the first quarter. Southeast’s defense stepped up the pressure in the second quarter, with steals by Hadley Leithead, Brooklyn Leithead, Haines, Booth and Keana Llewellyn.

Southeast outscored Cokeville, 11-7, in the third quarter. Both teams netted 14 points over the final eight minutes of regulation, with Kosmicki tossing in five points and Brooklyn Leithead, Kylee Llewellyn, Booth and Haines each netting a close-range shot.

The final buzzer sounded and the Lady Cyclones defeated top-ranked Cokeville by a 10-point margin, 43-33. 

“Beating Cokeville was a highlight (at state),” Kosmicki said. “Cokeville was No. 1 for the whole season while we were No. 5. That really jumped the gun for us to say, ‘We got this. We can go onto the state championship game if we all work together.’”

Once again, the Lady Cyclones “really stuck to the game plan” against Cokeville, coach Scheer said. 

“We got Cokeville to play our style of basketball and the girls mentally stuck to the plan for all 32 minutes of basketball,” Scheer added. “I am unbelievably proud of the girls for beating another one of the best teams in Wyoming.”

Ending careers on a high note

For the three seniors on Southeast’s varsity squad – Haines, Booth and Kylee Llewellyn – the state championship victory against Upton was the perfect ending to eventful basketball careers.

“There is no better way to go out of a season and a career,” Booth said. “This is the most incredible feeling and something we will remember for the rest of our lives.”

Kylee Llewellyn echoed Booth: “Basketball can be really hard on you sometimes, but you just have to push through and have supportive teammates. We just won another ship!”

Haines described the state title as the “best feeling.”

“I know I’m not coming back to the sport, so to leave it on such a high note like this is incredible,” Haines said. “And it couldn’t be with better people, including my fellow seniors.”

Booth thanked coach Scheer for believing in the team, especially the seniors, and “making us the incredible team that we are.”

“Sasha seconds that!” Haines said.

Kylee Llewellyn gave a shoutout to her teammates and the wider community for its support.

Brooklyn Leithead expressed gratitude to the Lady Cyclones’ supporters “and our haters to, because they really drove us to win this ship.”

Finding the right words to sum up the experience proved tough for coach Scheer.

“We did what we needed to do,” Scheer said. “We started to peak at the right time and the kids all rose to the occasion. The girls dug down deep to reach their potential and played their guts out.”