YODER – After coming up short in the season opener against Class 3A Wheatland, the Class 1A No. 4-ranked Southeast High School girls’ basketball team rebounded to day two of the Burns Winter Classic to score its first victory of the season on Saturday afternoon versus Saratoga.
On Friday evening, the Lady Cyclones were slow out of the gates falling behind 13-4 after one quarter of play en route to a 46-34 loss.
Despite that, there were a lot of positives Head Coach Jennifer Scheer saw in the game.
“I saw a lot of good things. I’m not disappointed. It’s early in the early. It’s been an awkward year to say the least. We are trying to find our stride,” she said. “. I saw a lot of good, open looks in offense. I saw some good defense. I also saw moments where we quit playing. Part of that is, we are very young. We have a lot of sophomores on the floor.”
However, changes in the Southeast offense opened scoring opportunities early in the second quarter.
The Lady Cyclones looked to sophomore high post Brenna Herring to spark the offense, and she the first four points of the quarter, cutting into the visitors lead.
“We saw there was a seem in their zone, and we wanted to exploit it,” Scheer said. “It was a matter of moving some personnel around, and the girls responded well. It worked for us.”
Southeast kept chipping away at the deficit, and by the middle the third quarter, the Lady Cyclones found themselves down only 25-20.
However, that proved to be as close as the team came to seeing the lead for the remainder of the contest.
Wheatland pushed the lead back to double digits in the first minute of fourth quarter.
“We are struggling to find our game. It’s going to take a moment or two. Experience is something we lack, and the only way we get that is by playing the games,” Scheer said. “That’s a good team. They are well balanced inside and out. They made some big shots, and they made us pay for our mistakes. That’s a sign of a good team.”
The Lady Cyclones got a 3-pointer from freshman Bailey Booth and sophomore Shelby Ekwall, but it wasn’t enough down the stretch as the Lady Bulldogs kept Southeast at bay in the closing moments.
Herring led Southeast with 15 points, while Booth added 10.
The next day, Southeast traveled to Lingle to wrap up the Winter Classic, and the Lady Cyclones came away with a 45-33 victory over the Saratoga Lady Panthers.
“Our first half looked a lot like Friday night,” Scheer said.
Foul trouble and struggles offensively plagued the team, but changes were made at halftime.
The team responded to the changes, limiting the Lady Panthers to only four points to pull away for the win.
Sophomore Kealy Carson led the Lady Cyclones with 17 points, while Ekwall added seven. Anderson and Herring tossed in five and six, respectively. Herring also led the team in rebounds with six, including four offensive boards.
Southeast (1-1) will participate in the Dogger Classic next week hosting 1A foes Kaycee and Encampment.
“They will be two face-paced games,” Scheer said. “Kaycee loves to get up and down the court.”
Southeast plays Kaycee at 10 a.m. and Encampment at 2:30 p.m.
