LINGLE – The Southeast High School girls’ basketball team went 12 of 19 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, lifting the Lady Cyclones to a 54-37 win over the Lingle-Fort Laramie Lady Doggers on Thursday.
The Lady Cyclones looked to put the game away early behind a 13-point first quarter behind two late 3-pointers from senior Kadra Clark in her first action in over a week.
“She was really sick last week, and she is just now getting her wind back,” Southeast coach Jennifer Scheer said. “She was a little rusty early and not playing her normal way. It took a few minutes to get her involved in the game, but once we got her back involved, she played tremendously.”
With a 16-3 lead early in the first quarter following an early 3-pointer from freshman Kealy Carson, L-FL chipped away at the deficit over the next five minutes, limiting Southeast to only two additional points.
By halftime, the Lady Doggers cut the deficit to 22-19.
Early in the third quarter, Southeast pushed its lead back to eight before L-FL made another run at the deficit.
Heading to the fourth, the Lady Cyclones led 33-29 before pouring on 21 points, including 12 from the free throw line late.
“Fouls came into play for both teams,” L-FL coach Matt Cornelius said. “In the end, it shook out much more in their favor than ours. I would like to think the competition isn’t reflective of the final score. It broke loose on us there at the end.”
The Lady Doggers attempted to put a full-court press, but Southeast managed to take advantage and pull away for the road win.
“We had to extend ourselves at the end with our press, and they capitalized on it,” Cornelius said. “Both teams worked extremely hard on the boards. It was a battle for all involved.”
Clark led the Lady Cyclones with 19 points, while Carson added nine. Freshman Sydney Anderson tossed in eight.
“It was just another hard-fought, awkward win, but sometimes that’s just the way it goes,” Scheer said.
L-FL senior Ashely Riley led the Lady Doggers with 21 points, while freshman Madison Saul and sophomore Mackenzie Vaughn added four apiece.
Both teams were back in action on Friday evening in a losing effort.
The Lady Doggers fell to the Niobrara County Lady Tigers, 56-29.
Senior Kelcie Sargent led L-FL with six points, while senior Jessy White added five.
L-FL travels to Rock River on Friday, Feb. 14 at 5:30 p.m. and hosts Hanna-Elk Mountain on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 2:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, Southeast traveled to Burns, falling to the Lady Broncs, 38-28.
No stats were available at press time.
The Lady Cyclones travel to Pine Bluffs on Friday, Feb. 14 for a 5:30 p.m. contest and will host Niobrara County at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15.
