TORRINGTON – The Torrington Lady Trailblazers won a back-and-forth affair Thursday against Riverton, outscoring the Lady Wolverines 8-7 in the fourth to squeak out the 33-32 win.
“A win is always nice heading into the break, but we definitely have some things that we need to work on and get better at,” coach Jeff Halley said. “We need to start playing our game instead of to the level of whatever our competition is.”
The Lady Blazers took a 9-8 lead after the first eight minutes of action in the low-scoring affair. By intermission, Torrington was up 16-14, but that lead did not last long. After intermission, Riverton poured in six-straight points open up a 20-16 lead over Torrington with 5:44 to go in the frame. Torrington had a run of its own and knotted the score at 25 with a quarter to go.
Brooklyn Tucker came out hot in the fourth quarter, draining two three-pointers in a row to give Torrington a 31-25 lead, still with more than seven minutes remaining. The Lady Wolverines added a three of their own to cut the lead to 31-28 with 4:10 left on the clock.
With 1:06 to go, Riverton called a timeout down 33-32. The Lady Wolverines had several looks at the basket in the final ticks off the clock, but Adia Sherbeyn came up with a defensive rebound and she took it down the floor and ended the game with a pass as time expired, giving the Lady Blazers the 33-32 win for their second win in a row.
Tucker led the way in the scoring, but not by much, pouring in eight points, including her six from behind the arc. She also had four steals and a rebound.
Chrissy Lira turned in seven points on 3-of-8 shooting. The senior rounded out her stat line with a team-high 10 rebounds, four of which were on offense, and three steals. Taylor Walsh and Sherbeyn chipped in six points apiece. Four of Sherbeyn’s points came from the charity stripe. Sherbeyn had seven boards, five off the offensive glass, along with an assist and five steals. Walsh chipped in three boards, an assist and two steals.
Logan Murphy turned in four points in the win, while racking up a team-high six steals and nine rebounds, with four on offense. Fellow senior Hailey Hashman turned in the final two points for the Lady Blazers, along with four rebounds and a steal.
The Lady Blazers now hold a 2-3 record, with both their wins coming over Riverton. Torrington returns to the hardwood Dec. 28-30 to compete in the Sidney, Neb. Winter Classic.
