BUFFALO – After going up two days early to regional basketball, both the Southeast Cyclones and Lady Cyclones had one thing on their minds, go into state as the No. 1 team.
They both came close to meeting that; however, the boys fell eight points short, losing a thriller with a score of 54-46 to the Upton Bobcats, who are looking to defend their state title. The girls on the other hand, won their regional title game by a score of 43-33 against the Bobcats.
The road to the title games was smooth for both teams as the boys won their first two games by a combined 88 points, beating both the Midwest Oilers and the Hulett Red Devils.
The girls took on Hulett in the first round winning that contest 54-11. They then played the Kaycee Buckaroos in the next round and won that as well with a score of 48-21.
In the game against the Oilers, the Cyclones got out to an early lead and never looked back. The Cyclones came out hot in the first quarter shooting well and getting many steals with their full-court press. The Cyclones were just too overwhelming for the Oilers to deal with as they won the game with a score of 68-25.
Senior Austin Short led Southeast with 21 points, while senior Kyler Clark added 18. Senior Cooper Larkin tossed in nine.
The next day, the Cyclones took on the Red Devils, a team with big posts and good guard play, but had zero struggle taking them down as Clark got hot from three-point range. Everyone was getting steals and scoring. After scoring fast and quick all game, the Cyclone starters got to rest most of the fourth quarter as the game came to a 68-23 close.
Sophomore Ayden Desmond led the team with 26 points and seven rebounds, while Clark added 18 points. Sophomore Kannon Tippets and Larkin had eight each.
The last day, the Cyclones had a regional title rematch of last year as they took on the Upton Bobcats, who are led by great guard play and three-point shooting. However, Southeast came out hot and hit five 3-pointers in the first quarter and went into half up by 10 points. Coming out of the locker room, the Bobcats switched tactics and made defense a huge point as the held they Cyclones to eight points in the third and 10 points in the fourth. The game was tight until the finish when the Cyclones ran out of steam and the game ended with the Cyclones losing 46-54.
Desmond led the team with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Short added 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.
After the loss, Southeast turns to the state tournament, where they will play the Burlington Huskies and are hoping to win out on the season and bring home a state championship. The state tournament gets underway March 2 at the Ford Wyoming Center, with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m.
The Southeast Lady Cyclones have extended their winning streak to 16 in a row after winning the 1A East Regional Championship. They started their regional championship run playing Hulett in the first round. They had no issue with that as they powered through the Devils low scoring offense, to a 54-11 win.
Senior Sydney Anderson led the team with 17 points, while senior Brenna Herring added 10.
On Friday, they faced Kaycee who they seemed to have started a rivalry within volleyball as they have both beat each other up in past years; however, the Buckaroos have been no match for the Cyclones on the basketball court this year as they have beat them handily both times they played them this year. This game started out somewhat slow for the Cyclones as they weren’t shooting the best from the field, however their defense was top notch as they held the Buckaroos to zero points in the first quarter and just eight points in the entire first half. They continued to bully their way around the court until they ultimately won the game, 48-21.
Herring led the team with 15 points, while Anderson tossed in 12. Senior Kealy Carson had eight.
The Cyclones then looked to the title game where they would have a rematch of last year against the Bobcats. Unlike last year though, the Cyclones were on top most of the game. They scored quickly and stayed on top by a basket or two the whole game while the Lady Cyclones got into foul trouble in the first half they stuck with the Bobcats and went into the half tied at 15 apiece. Coming out after the break, the Cyclones doubled their first half score and continued to build, and Upton just could not keep up. The Cyclones took home some hardware with a 43-33 win.
Herring led the team with 12 points, while Carson added 11.
The Lady Cyclones enter the state tournament as a one seed, and will play the Encampment Tigers, hoping for another state championship run and to etch their names back into the record books, this time as repeat champs.
