LFL girls cap season with consolation championship

CASPER – The Lingle-Fort Laramie Lady Doggers ended their season with a win over Rock River in the consolation championship at the state tournament in Casper after falling to Encampment and beating Kaycee.
“The character of these kids is unparalleled,” coach Matt Cornelius said. “They could have easily tanked after they couldn’t achieve the goal set at the beginning of the season of winning a championship, but they didn’t.”

Encampment 51, LFL 36
In LFL’s first game of the tournament, the Lady Doggers struggled to rack up the points, scoring two in the first and six in the second for 15 percent shooting to Encampment’s 22 first-half points.
“Encampment jumped out to a quick lead on us,” Cornelius said. “They punched us in the mouth in the first half and we couldn’t recover. Encampment came out to play.”
The Lady Doggers came out after intermission and poured in 18 points in the third quarter to the Lady Tigers’ 11. In the fourth, Encampment out-shot the Lady Doggers by eight to cruise to the win.
Kaylynn Jefferson was the only Lady Dogger to score in double-figures, with 11 points. She nailed three of the team’s five three-pointers and had two rebounds, two assists and a steal.
“Kaylynn Jefferson had a good weekend,” Cornelius said. “She only had 11 points, but Encampment made a big effort to keep the ball out of her hands and she still was the top scorer for us.”
Makenna Greenwald, with eight points, and Georgia Wollert, with seven, rounded out the top scorers for LFL. Wollert paced the Lady Doggers in rebounds, with nine, while Greenwald added eight. Wollert also had a steal. Morea Shipley and Jade Cooper added five points apiece in the loss.

After knocking down 3-of-20 in the first half, the Lady Doggers drained 10-of-27 in the second to finish the game with a 28 percent shooting percentage. They did nail 33 percent of their shots from behind the arc.

LFL 48, Kaycee 32
All four teams out of the west won their first round games, leaving only teams from the east in the consolation bracket. For the second weekend in a row, LFL had their way with eastern opponents in 1A.
“It really helped with game planning because you play the teams several times in a season,” Cornelius said. “It is tough to beat a team three times in a season.”
LFL jumped out to a 12-5 lead after the first quarter and they expanded that lead to 26-11 by intermission. The Lady Doggers put up 14 points in the third quarter compared to the Lady Bucs’ eight. LFL was outscored in the fourth, 13-8, but it was not enough for Kaycee to bring the game close.
Wollert took over the game, racking up 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 shooting from the charity stripe. She completed the double-double with 13 rebounds.
Greenwald chipped in eight points for LFL to go along with nine boards, an assist and a team-high three steals. Jefferson hit two of the Lady Doggers’ three-pointers and racked up seven points, two rebounds, a team-high three assists and two steals.
Eleven Lady Doggers saw the court in the win, with six different girls scoring.
Kaycee had a better shooting percentage (37 percent) than LFL did (31 percent), but the Lady Doggers put up 17 more shots than the Lady Bucs. The Lady Doggers shot 3-of-15 from behind the arc and 11-of-20 from the charity stripe.

LFL 66, Rock River 36
The Lady Doggers came out hot against the Lady Longhorns and separated themselves by 20 points after the first quarter, 23-3. By intermission, LFL led 35-16. In the third and fourth quarters, LFL put up 14 and 17 points. Rock River poured in 20 points in the second half.
“The girls didn’t back down,” Cornelius said. “Our defense was looking as good as it had all season and they just came out and played some great, fundamental basketball.”
For the second game of the tournament and her final game as a Lady Dogger, Wollert amassed 21 points. She again had a double-double, contributing 19 boards, 12 on offense. Wollert added an assist and a team-high six steals to her stat line.
Fellow senior Greenwald amassed 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in the win. Cooper was also in double-figures, racking up 13 points. She also had two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
In their final games for LFL, Jefferson racked up seven points and Shipley contributed six. Shipley also had six rebounds, a team-high five assists and four steals. Jefferson rounded out her stat line with four rebounds and three steals.
“Morea Shipley had the game of her career against Rock River,” Cornelius said. “She didn’t score a lot but she played about as good of defense as you could.”
LFL shot 40 percent from the field but only 25 percent from behind the arc in the win. The Lady Doggers drilled only 42 percent of their free throws in the win.
The Lady Doggers took the consolation championship, with the fourth teams from the west taking the top four spots. Encampment took the state title, with St. Stephens finishing second and Farson-Eden taking third. LFL finished the season 15-11.