Lady Bulldogs strong at BHB Classic, play to 3-1 record

Though they couldn’t quite run the table, the Lovell Lady Bulldogs found great success at the Big Horn Basin Classic in Powell and Cowley over the weekend, winning three of their four games played over two days.

Lovell stopped Thermopolis 57-49 and Greybull 72-38 Friday in Powell, fell to Wyoming Indian in Cowley Saturday morning, 55-48, and returned to Powell Saturday afternoon to crush Burlington 61-25.

“I thought our effort and our energy was up (this weekend),” head coach Brian May said. “I thought the girls did a good job executing a lot of things in our presses. Offensively, I think there are some spots where we need to be a little mentally stronger and tougher in situations and not let the pressure get to us.

“I thought we let some pressure get to us in the Wyoming Indian game, and we didn’t respond very well to that. We played some really good teams, teams that had been playing really well.”

Lovell 57, Thermopolis 49

The Lady Bulldogs had a battle on their hands in the first game against Thermopolis Friday afternoon. Lovell led 42-38 after three quarters and outscored the Bobcats 15-11 in the fourth to win by eight.

“It seems like Thermopolis always plays us tough,” May said. “We outrebounded Thermopolis, and we were able to get them to turn the ball over a lot (32 turnovers). I think we got out at times with our break and got some easy buckets. We had four kids in double figures, which is always good.

“I think the only letdown we had is that sometimes we would get up and then we’d let them back in. I think at one point in the third quarter we were up by 15, and then we rotated kids in and it was easily cut down to nine. So we need to do a better job with executing, regardless who’s in the game.”

Avery Walker led the Bulldogs with 19 points, and Becca Nichols added 12 points, Brooklin Clark and Ali Walker 11 each, Hannity Felkins 2 and Jenna Hessenthaler and Kandace Asay 1 apiece. Ali Walker grabbed six rebounds, sister Avery five, and Nichols finished with four assists and seven steals. Clark added four steals.

“Avery really had a nice game scoring, and I think Becca has just overall energy,” May said. “I think in those four games she averaged, like, 10.6 steals and four assists, and she rebounded for us. We challenged her, and she responded. Brooklin had a nice weekend, as well, just always high energy and a good defender all the time.”

Lovell 72, Greybull 38

Game two found the Lady Bulldogs playing a familiar foe in the form of former conference rival Greybull. Nine players got into the scorebook for Lovell as the Bulldogs won by 34 points.

May said Greybull has improved but turned the ball over against Lovell’s pressure and had 39 turnovers in the game. He said he used full-court man-to-man pressure, a zone press and a half-court trap.

The Bulldogs came out strong and led 17-6 after the first quarter, then led 32-16 at halftime. Lovell outscored Greybull 22-13 in the third and 18-9 in the fourth to pull away.

Nine players scored for the Lady Bulldogs led by Avery Walker with 16 points. Ali Walker added 13 points, Kaydree Owens 11, Nichols and Morgan Harshman 8 each, Clark 7, Felkins 4, Ava Edwards 3 and Macie Anderson 2.

Lovell outrebounded Greybull 34-16 led by Harshman and Clark with eight each. Nichols led the team with four assists and nine steals. Avery Walker tallied five rebounds, three assists and five steals. Clark also had five steals.

Wyoming Indian 55, Lovell 48

Playing in Cowley Saturday morning, the Lady Bulldogs played relatively well against Wyoming Indian except in one aspect of the game: free throw shooting. Lovell got to the foul line 33 times but hit just 14 free throws, 42 percent. Lovell also lost the battle of the boards 30-25.

The Bulldogs were sluggish early and hit just two baskets in the first quarter to trail 16-7 after one, then outscored WIHS 18-14 in the second quarter to cut the deficit to five, 30-25, at halftime. Lovell edged the Lady Chiefs 10-9 in the third to trail 39-35 but missed seven free throws in the quarter, and Wyoming Indian outscored Lovell 16-13 in the fourth as the Lady Bulldogs clanged eight more free throws.

While free-throw shooting was troubling to May, so was rebounding.

“With Wyoming Indian, you look at the tape, and they look like they’re slow. And we felt like we could get the pace going quicker,” May said. “But I think our girls were intimidated a little bit by their size. Wyoming Indian outrebounded us. One of our goals is to really outrebound anybody we play, regardless of size. But you look at Wyoming Indian’s turnovers, and we just weren’t converting on those turnovers. We missed some layups, or we would get to the line and miss some free throws.

“I think in that game it kind of felt like our girls were getting a little bit tight, and that’s the mental toughness you get from a more mature team. And so that’s something that, as a young team, we’ve got to work on doing better at.”

Nichols led Lovell with 13 points, and Clark scored 11, Avery Walker 10, Owens 5, Harshman 4, Ali Walker 3 and Felkins 2. Nichols and Clark each recorded six rebounds and five steals.

Lovell 61, Burlington 25

The Lady Bulldogs finished the tournament on a high Saturday afternoon, clobbering Burlington by 36 points. Lovell led by just two points after the first quarter, 11-9, but outscored Burlington 16-7 in the second, 15-6 in the third and 19-3 in the fourth.

“Burlington is a pretty solid team,” May said. “One of the things we were worried about was their rebounding. They average about 39 rebounds, and they had 41, but they weren’t converting on some of those offensive rebounds. Our defensive intensity and pressure was good, and we hit nine three-point shots in that game. That was just fun to see, shots like that falling. That same type of confidence is what we needed in that previous game, because we had some open looks in the game with Wyoming Indian, too.”

Ali Walker led the Lady Bulldogs with 17 points and five steals. Sister Avery added 14 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Clark added 11 points, Nichols 8, Felkins 5, Hessenthaler 3, Asay 2 and Owens 1.

Home cooking

The Lady Bulldogs will finally see their home floor for a game when they host Worland tonight (Thursday) for a conference contest at 4 (JV) and 5:30 p.m. Worland is 6-5 on the season and went 2-2 at the Big Horn Basin Classic in Cowley over the weekend.

“Worland is much improved,” May said. “They’ve been playing well. They have a guard that averages in 20 points a game (senior Kathya Navarro, #3) and another one 12 (sophomore Annie Page, #15) and a good post player (junior Lillie Richardson, #30).

“It’s a conference game. It’s important to both teams, and we’re hoping that we can execute offensive and defensively the way that we want to play.”