TORRINGTON – Torrington High School senior Reece Halley became only the second player in program history to top 1,000 points for her career Thursday evening in a 40-27 win over Mitchell, Nebraska.
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TORRINGTON – Torrington High School senior Reece Halley became only the second player in program history to top 1,000 points for her career Thursday evening in a 40-27 win over Mitchell, Nebraska.
Halley scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and tallied five steals in the win.
The accomplishment came as a surprise to her, according to THS coach Jeff Halley.
“She knew she was getting close, but she had no idea she was there. It was a surprise on my part,” Halley said.
The score came on a drive to the basket early in the fourth quarter.
“That was pretty cool, and to be able to do it at home was a lot fun,” Halley said. “It shows her longevity. She’s been an asset for us since she was a freshman, but like I told the kids afterwards, it’s an attribute to everyone she’s played with.”
Leading 11-6 after one quarter, the Lady Blazers were able to start to pull away in the second quarter.
Torrington’s lead topped 20 at one point, but Mitchell made a push late in the contest, cutting the lead to under 10.
“It was typical Torrington, Mitchell. It was a dogfight. It was ugly, scrappy and physical. It was a decent game. We gradually pulled away,” Halley said. “Towards the end, we got a little bit lackadaisical. We let them hang around.”
In the end, Torrington held Mitchell to 26% shooting and forced 31 turnovers.
Senior Mattie Jones led THS in scoring with 15, while Halley had 10.
On Saturday, the Lady Blazers played even with Douglas with the exception of about 40 seconds in the second quarter.
Down 20-18, the wheels fell off for Torrington.
“The last minute of the second quarter killed us,” Halley said. “All we had to do is get a good shot. We were down two, and if we get a good shot up maybe we tie it up. But we turn it over. They score. We turn it over again. We miss a rebound. They score. Then Reece throws a panic hail Mary, and they steal it and throw up garbage for three more.”
Torrington found itself down 27-18 at halftime.
The Lady Blazers got no closer than eight points for the remainder of the game.
“We played them even the whole game but that 40 second stretch,” Halley said. “You don’t want to settle for moral victories, but realistically, this is a steppingstone to see where we got to get.”
Halley led the team with 15 points and 14 rebounds, while junior Marissa Moorehouse added nine.
“We are getting more of the great things and less of the young kid things every week,” Halley said. “We still have to get better. We aren’t there yet.”
The Lady Blazers now turn their attention to 3A Southeast Quadrant play when they host Wheatland on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and travel to Burns on Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest.
“Our goal is to start winning games, whatever we have to do, whether its pressing, playing better defense, rebounding, finding more scorers,” Halley said. “We have Wheatland and Burns next week – two winnable games – but again, we have to keep getting better.”
