GILLETTE – The Southeast Lady Cyclones lost their opening game of the 2A East Regional tournament in Gillette over the weekend, but battled back for three-straight wins to capture third, qualifying for the state tournament.

Wright 43, Southeast 40
Southeast, the third seed from the southeast conference, took on Wright on Thursday and tried to put together a late-game rally, but fell short. The Lady Cyclones and Lady Panthers both put up 11 points in the first frame. The second quarter is where Wright added separation, putting up 17 points to Southeast’s nine.
After facing a 28-20 deficit at halftime, Southeast poured in six more points than the Lady Panthers in the third to cut the lead to two heading into the final eight minutes of regulation. Southeast racked up eight points to Wright’s nine in the fourth quarter to fall, 43-40.
“Thursday I thought the girls played well,” coach Jennifer Scheer said. “We won every category we needed to, except the score. Losing the first-round game is always tough because you can’t lose again.”
Emily Buchanan and Ellie Schmitt accounted for 11 points apiece. Buchanan had eight rebounds and three assists to round out her stat sheet. Hailey Anderson was one point and one rebound away from a double-double, notching a nine point, nine board performance to go along with three assists.
The Lady Cyclones left five points at the charity stripe on 9-of-14 shooting, while Wright shot 8-of-14 from the line.

Southeast 53, Tongue River 33
In a must-win situation, Southeast managed to pick up the 20-point win over Tongue River, sending the Lady Eagles home.

The Lady Cyclones put up 17 points in the first quarter and held a three-point lead heading into the second. Southeast added to their lead by halftime, holding a 26-17 advantage at the break.
“Friday morning we played very focused,” Scheer said. We started a little slow, but then we came out slinging and put it away from there.”
The Lady Cyclones poured in 12 points in the third and 15 points in the fourth, while allowing only 16 points in the second half to cruise to the win.
Buchanan was the top scorer for the Lady Cyclones, amassing 18 points. She paired her high scoring output with seven assists against the Lady Eagles.
Anderson, with 14 points, and Kaci Schmick, with 11 points, joined Buchanan in double-figures. Anderson and Schmick also accounted for six rebounds apiece, while Schmitt paced the Lady Cyclones with 10 boards. Schmitt and Schmick each had four steals against Tongue River.

Southeast 46, Sundance 40
The Lady Cyclones and Lady Bulldogs met in a game on Saturday morning, with the winner advancing to the state tournament and the loser’s season coming to a close.
Southeast came out with a vengeance, putting 10 points between itself and Sundance. The two teams scored nine points apiece in the second quarter, giving the Lady Cyclones a 28-18 lead at intermission.
Sundance outscored Southeast in the third (15-12) and fourth quarters (7-6), but the Lady Cyclones were able to keep enough separation to snag the win.
Buchanan again led Southeast in scoring, tallying up 18 points to go along with her six boards, four assists and two steals. Anderson, with 12 points, was the second-leading scorer. She also had seven rebounds and two steals.
Schmitt made a big contribution in scoring, chipping in nine points. Schmitt and Schmick both had five rebounds on Saturday morning.
“Our kids played super on both ends of the floor to put away a very good Sundance team,” Scheer said.

Southeast 46, Wright 35
The Lady Cyclones got their rematch against the Lady Panthers and they made it count, snagging the win for third place, 46-35.
“We didn’t change anything from Thursday because we didn’t need to. We just got our shots to fall,” Scheer said. “We got some shots to fall early and we got a bit of a lead and got Wright out of their gameplan.”
Wright outscored Southeast 9-6 in the first frame, but the Lady Cyclones exploded in the second and third quarters. They put up 16 points in the second quarter and 19 in the third, while allowing the Lady Panthers to put in only 17 over the two quarters. Wright did put up four more points in the final eight minutes of regulation (9-5), but it was not enough for the Lady Panthers to make up the large difference.
Buchanan took over the game, pouring in 23 points for the Lady Cyclones. She also had three assists. Anderson accounted for 14 points in the win, along with six rebounds and three assists. Buchanan and Anderson each scored more than any Lady Panther did on Saturday.
Schmitt topped the list in the rebounding category, amassing 10 boards. She added six steals to her stat line. Like Buchanan and Anderson, Kylie Carson and Whitney Foos each had three assists during the win.
The 3-1 performance in Gillette put the Lady Cyclones at 18-8 this winter. Their third-place finish at the regional tournament put them as the third seed from the east for the state tournament. The action at the state tournament starts on Thursday at Casper College and moves to the Casper Events Center for Friday and Saturday. Southeast’s first game of the tournament comes against the west’s second-seed, Rocky Mountain. The contest is set to tip off at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.
“It’s a one game season at this point,” Scheer said. “Anything can happen in Casper. We have no other focus than our next game coming up.”