LINGLE – The WyoPreps.com Class 1A top-ranked Southeast Lady Cyclones rolled to a pair of victories over the weekend over a pair of Class 2A schools in Lingle-Fort Laramie and Pine Bluffs.
On Thursday, Southeast pulled away in the third quarter en route to a 44-23 win over cross-county rival Lingle-Fort Laramie.
The Lady Cyclones ended the first quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 10-4 lead into the second.
However, the Lady Doggers weren’t going to go away.
“Our kids didn’t come out with any kind of focus and lacked quite a bit of intensity,” Southeast coach Jennifer Scheer said. “Lingle did a good job. They were hitting some open shots and were handling us defensively. They were hitting the boards really well. They were doing the things they needed to do, and we were not doing the things we needed to do.”
LFL went on an 8-0 run courtesy of a 3-pointers from LFL freshman Skyla Wunder and junior Natalie Speckner to take a 12-10 lead with 5:24 left before halftime.
The run forced Southeast coach Jennifer Scheer to use a timeout.
“We had to fix two things – one thing on the defensive end, stay on the ground and do your job, and on the offensive end, look to the middle of the floor and run your offense through that area,” Scheer said.
Coming out of the timeout, Lingle didn’t score again until the 5:45 mark in the third quarter.
During the time span, the Lady Cyclone lead grew to 22-12.
Southeast limited the Lady Doggers to only four points in the third quarter and 11 points for the remainder of the game, while Southeast added 22 more points over the final over 13 minutes and 45 seconds.
“Shelby Ekwall had a heck of a game. She had eight offensive rebounds and five defensively,” Scheer said. “I thought that girl was working tremendously hard on both ends of the floor. It was maybe one of the best games I’ve seen her play.”
Southeast Senior Kealy Carson led the team with 15 points, while senior Shelby Ekwall tallied a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Junior Baylie Booth tossed in 10 points.
The Lady Doggers were led by Speckner with seven points and six rebounds, while Wunder had five points and five steals. Junior Holly Leiseth grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
“Whether it’s a cross-county rivalry or just cross the county line, these are big games for us. (Pine Bluffs) plays well within their system,” Scheer said. “We’ll have to be ready to play (Friday).”
On Friday, Southeast pulled away for a 42-27 win over the Pine Bluffs Lady Hornets.
The home team hung around for a quarter as Southeast held a slim 11-7 lead going into the second quarter.
Over the next two quarters, the Lady Cyclones began to pull away. Southeast extended the lead to 22-11 at half and 33-13 by the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Pine Bluffs cut into the Southeast lead, outscoring the Lady Cyclones 13-9.
Booth led Southeast with 13 points, while Anderson had 11. Haines tossed in seven. Ekwall and Booth grabbed three rebounds each, while Ekwall and Carson recorded five steals each. Haines dished out four assists.
Southeast (13-2 overall and 3-0 1A Southeast Quad) hosts Mitchell, Nebraska at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 20 and Niobrara County at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21.
