YODER – The Southeast High School girls’ basketball team raced out to a 14-0 lead en route to a 40-29 win over the Glenrock Lady Herders on Saturday afternoon to end the regular season on a winning note.
The Lady Cyclones didn’t waste any time grabbing a lead behind a bucket from senior forward Morgan Ekwall.
Ekwall’s score was the first of 14 straight for the Lady Cyclones before Glenrock finally got on the scoreboard with two and a half minutes to go in the opening quarter.
During the opening stretch senior Kadra Clark knocked in three 3-pointers.
“Kudos to our older kids on the floor tonight,” Southeast coach Jennifer Scheer said. “They came out with a renewed sense of focus and intensity, and I thought they got us going down the path that we needed to go.”
The Lady Herders managed to score six straight points over the final two minutes of the first quarter to cut the deficit to 17-9 at the end of the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, the Lady Cyclones limited Glenrock to only three points, but the Lady Herders returned the favor in the third quarter, limiting Southeast to only three points.
“Again, we lost our intensity and focus once in a while,” Scheer said. “We have to learn that cannot happen. It’s been a point of emphasis for us all year. Our kids gathered themselves back up and got it locked back in pretty well. It just took a little coaxing to get them back on the same page.”
Over the final eight minutes, the teams traded buckets, and Southeast didn’t allow Glenrock to get any closer than 11 in the final quarter.
The win marked the final home game for three Lady Cyclones – Clark, Ekwall and Kendall Haas.
“Those are three pretty special girls. They’ve never not given me what I’ve asked,” Scheer said. “They scrape. They work hard. They are here every night giving it all they have. This is their team, and we move forward with them.”
Clark led the Lady Cyclones with 17 points, while Ekwall added 10.
Southeast wraps up the regular season with a 13-8 record. The Lady Cyclones will open postseason play as the No. 3 seed from the Class 2A Southeast Quadrant. The team will face Big Horn at 4 p.m. Thursday at Willi Gym in Torrington at the East Regional Tournament.
“Every position matters. Every moment matters. Everything you do from here matters,” Scheer said.
