The girls now face a tougher road to our goals but they are still attainable. By winning both games on Saturday, we are on track and I look forward to the girls’ success at state.”

Coach Susan Bartel

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The Lady Doggers begin the 1A state tournament in Casper with a game against Burlington on Thursday at 4 p.m.

UPTON – A rollercoaster ride for the Lingle-Fort Laramie (LFL) Lady Doggers at the 1A East regional tournament in Upton ended on a high note with a third-place finish for the Lady Doggers.

LFL opened the tournament with a 53-14 thrashing of Hulett on Thursday, February 27.

Progressing to the semifinals, the Lady Doggers fought their cross-county rivals, the Southeast Lady Cyclones, through four intense quarters before coming up short by a single point, 34-33, in a game that went into overtime.

Battling back on Saturday morning’s consolation game, the Lady Doggers punched their ticket to the state championships with a 68-35 routing of Hanna-Elk Mountain (HEM).

Making their way to the third-place game, LFL defeated Niobrara County, 57-37, to clinch the consolation trophy and the No. 3 seed at state.

“We had a disappointing loss against Southeast in the second round,” coach Susan Bartel said. “The girls now face a tougher road to our goals but they are still attainable. By winning both games on Saturday, we are on track and I look forward to the girls’ success at state.”

LFL opens the state tournament with a game against Burlington (No. 2) on Thursday at 4 p.m. in Casper’s Ford Wyoming Center.

Hulett

The Lady Doggers set the momentum for victory in the first and second quarters against Hulett with LFL outscoring it’s opponent, 40-9, in the first half.

LFL entered different lineups to finish the job in the second half with the Lady Doggers’ topping Hulett in scoring, 7-1, in the third quarter and 6-4 in the fourth.

Eight Lady Doggers contributed to the final points spread against Hulett, led by junior Jordynn Speckner with 19 points. Junior Skyla Wunder netted nine points, freshman Shaylyn Wunder eight, sophomore Charlotte Speckner seven and junior Avary Rising five. 

Charlotte Speckner led on the boards with eight rebounds. Skyla Wunder delivered nine assists while Jordynn Speckner and Shilreff each rustled four steals. 

Southeast

A neck-and-neck first half between the LFL and Lady Cyclones ended in a 15-15 stalemate.

Southeast pulled ahead at the end of the third quarter, 22-18. The Lady Doggers battled back in the fourth quarter to top Southeast in scoring, 10-6, and tie the game, 28-28, at the final buzzer.

The game went into overtime and Southeast ultimately pulled up by one point to clinch the win.

Jordynn Speckner led LFL in scoring against Southeast with 13 points while Skyla Wunder tallied 11. Charlotte Speckner collected five points and senior Brenly Shipp two. 

Charlotte Speckner dominated the boards with 11 rebounds. Skyla Wunder passed the ball for three assists and picked up four steals. 

HEM

A close first quarter between the Lady Doggers and HEM saw LFL pull up by one, 14-13.

The Lady Doggers left it all on the court in the second quarter, netting 15 points while holding HEM to only two and the halftime score favored LFL, 29-15.

The Lady Doggers blasted onto the court in the third quarter, tripling HEM in scoring, 27-9.

Skyla Wunder tallied 21 points against HEM, Jordynn Speckner 18, Charlotte Speckner contributed eight and junior Avary Rising and senior Alicia McGraw four each.

Charlotte Speckner again led on the boards with six rebounds. Skyla Wunder delivered four assists and grabbed eight steals.

Niobrara County

LFL commenced the game against the Lady Tigers with a 13-2 run in the first quarter.

Both teams tallied 13 points in the second period but the Lady Doggers remained up, 26-15, at half.

Niobrara County attempted to close the gap in a third quarter that saw the Lady Tigers score 14 points to 13 by LFL.

The Lady Doggers rallied in the fourth quarter to outscore Niobrara County, 18-8.

Skyla Wunder and Charlotte Speckner both netted double digits against the Lady Tigers at 20 and 18 points, respectively. Sophomore Afton Schilreff collected six points, Shaylyn Wunder five and freshman Madison Hatch three.

Charlotte Speckner went double-double against Niobrara County with 10 rebounds. Jordynn Speckner passed the ball for six assists and wrangled five steals.