Lady Bulldogs sweep three to begin title defense

So far, so good. The Lovell Lady Bulldogs opened defense of their 2011 state title with a three-game sweep at the Big Horn Basin Shootout in South Big Horn County.Defense was the key to Lovell’s trifecta as the Lady Bulldogs allowed only 69 points total in three games – an average of 23 points per game.[caption id="attachment_2314" align="alignright" width="245" caption="Lovell junior Amanda Shumway drives against Burlington’s Janet Davidson during Saturday’s 29-24 win in Burlington. The Lady Bulldogs host Wyoming Indian tonight (Thursday) at 5:30 p.m."][/caption]Lovell opened the tournament by crushing Kemmerer 46-10 at Riverside High School in Basin Friday afternoon. Saturday morning, the Lady Bulldogs won more of an up-tempo game, stopping Wind River 61-35 at Greybull High School. Moving to Burlington Saturday evening, the Lady Bulldogs edged the hometown Lady Huskies 29-24.Lovell jumped on top of Kemmerer 16-0 after the first quarter Friday and didn’t allow a basket by the Lady Rangers until late in the second quarter, coach Chris Edwards said, as Lovell led 29-4 at halftime.“We were able to move the ball effectively in our offense and get the shots we wanted,” Edwards said. “Defensively, were were able to control the tempo of the game. We were able to pressure their guards and keep them out of their half-court sets. We were able to deny the wings and take away their half-court cutters.“We got contributions from all of the girls, which was nice.”Lovell outscored Kemmerer 10-4 in the third quarter and 7-2 in the fourth to win by 36 points. Leanne Winterholler led a balanced attack with 11 points, and Alyssa Geiser added 10 points, Chelsey Ellis 8, Erin Robertson 6 and Miranda Griffis 5. Jodi Walker led the team with five rebounds, while Geiser and Griffis had five steals each.The Lady Grizzlies held Kemmerer to three baskets for the entire game.The box score:KEMMERER (10)Marie McClaren 1 0-0 2, Brianna Hysell 0 0-1 0, Madison Vickery 1 1-3 3, Paige Ourada 0 1-2 1, Tysha Muller 1 2-4 4. Totals 3 4-10 10.LOVELL (46)Alyssa Geiser 5 0-0 10, Jodi Walker 2 0-2 4, Dominique Allred 0 0-0 0, Leanne Winterholler 5 1-2 11, Kassidy Hetland 0 0-0 0, Kim Shumway 0 0-0 0, Shyann Wilske 0 0-0 0, Amanda Shumway 1 0-2 2, Chelsey Ellis 3 2-2 8, Erin Robertson 3 0-0 6, Miranda Griffis 2 0-2 5. Totals 21 3-10 46.Kemm 0 4 4 2 – 10Lovell 16 13 10 7 – 46Three-point field goals – Griffis 1. Fouled out – none. Total fouls – Kemmerer 13, Lovell 12.Lovell 61, Wind River 35 Game two Saturday morning found the Lady Bulldogs in more of an up-tempo game with Wind River, who had fallen to Burlington 47-39 the night before. Edwards noted that both teams pressed and pushed the ball more in Saturday’s game.Balance was the name of the game for Lovell, as eight players scored in the game, six in the first quarter as Lovell took a 17-7 lead, then led 28-17 at the half.“We were able to create some fouls that got them in foul trouble,” Edwards noted. “We ran our half-court sets and got the ball where it needed to be inside and forced them into tough position.“They were able to get some offensive rebounds that hurt us at times. We need to do a better job of finding bodies and moving them from the basket.”Lovell led 41-27 after three quarters, then put the game away by outscoring the Cougars 20-8 in the final period.Chelsey Ellis led the Lady Bulldogs with 15 points, and Amanda Shumway added 13, Robertson 10, Walker 7 and Winterholler 6.Lovell was 0-11 from three-point range but got the running game going with 27 steals. Geiser finished with six assists and five steals, Walker six rebounds and five assists, Winterholler seven steals, Amanda Shumway eight rebounds, Ellis nine rebounds and five steals and Robertson six rebounds and five steals.“Chelsey did some good things offensively off the bench,” Edwards said. “Erin did a good job looking for her post game. Amanda played a solid all-around game, as well as Jodi. Jodi had a good floor game.”The box score:WIND RIVER (35)Josee Vogel 1 2-2 4, Tory Thoman 1 0-0 2, Kelsi Davidson 2 0-0 4, Brett Groesbeck 1 2-4 4, Amanda C’Bearing 3 1-1 8, Verna Capitan 0 0-4 0, Macayla Arrington 2 0-0 4, Darlee Hyatt 1 0-0 2, Tristan Yellowplume 3 1-2 7. Totals 14 6-13 35.LOVELL (61)Alyssa Geiser 1 2-5 4, Jodi Walker 2 3-4 7, Dominique Allred 0 0-0 0, Leanne Winterholler 3 0-0 6, Kassidy Hetland 0 2-3 2, Kim Shumway 1 0-0 2, Shyann Wilske 0 0-0 0, Amanda Shumway 6 1-2 13, Chelsey Ellis 6 3-4 15, Erin Robertson 3 4-9 10, Miranda Griffis 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 15-27 61.W River 7 10 10 8 – 35Lovell 17 11 13 20 – 61Three-point field goals – C’Bearing 1. Fouled out – none. Total fouls – Wind River 11, Lovell 18.Saturday night’s tournament finale in Burlington was a defensive knock-down-drag-out for the two Big Horn County foes. Lovell played solid defense throughout the game but had trouble scoring and hit only three of 18 foul shots.“Our legs went out,” Edwards said. “Our legs left us. It was a typical third game and the end of a two-day tournament.“Defensively, we did a good job and challenged everything. We were in control the whole night and we made a spurt to pull away from them. It was a matter of finishing shots and hitting free throws.”Lovell jumped out to a 7-0 lead on an inside move by Robertson, a hook shot by Walker and a three-pointer by Winterholler, but inside buckets by Janet Davidson (plus free throw) and Sadie Neves cut the lead to two, and the game was tied at 9, 11, 14, and 22 as the low-scoring game progressed. Eventually, after the 22-22 tie early in the fourth quarter, a trey by Winterholler, a fast-break follow by Winterholler and a steal and layup by Robertson put the game away for the Lady Bulldogs.Winterholler was the only Lovell player who scored in double figures, finishing with 10 points. Robertson added 6. Janet Davidson scored 10 for Burlington, Shelby Nicholson 9.Geiser finished with three assists, Walker six rebounds, Winterholler four steals and Robertson seven rebounds and six steals.The box score:LOVELL (29)Alyssa Geiser 2 0-1 4, Jodi Walker 1 0-2 2, Leanne Winterholler 4 0-2 10, Amanda Shumway 1 2-5 4, Chelsey Ellis 1 1-4 3, Erin Robertson 3 0-2 6, Miranda Griffis 0 0-2 0. Totals 12 3-18 29.BURLINGTON (24)Julie Davidson 0 0-0 0, Sadie Neves 2 1-2 5, Shelby Nicholson 4 1-1 9, Jessica Stanworth 0 0-2 0, Janet Davidson 3 4-7 10. Totals 9 6-12 24.Lovell 11 6 4 8 – 29Burlington 9 6 5 4 – 24Three-point field goals – Winterholler 2. Fouled out – Janet Davidson. Total fouls – Lovell 9, Burlington 17.Home openerThe Lady Bulldogs will play in the friendly confines of Winterholler Gym for the first time tonight (Thursday) when they host the Wyoming Indian Lady Chiefs at 4 (JV) and 5:30 p.m. The Chiefs will be seeing their first action of the season en route to a tournament in Billings, and as always, they will be a formidable foe, Edwards said.“They bring back a couple of solid players in (Kim) Goggles and (Anneshia) Hill, and they always have shooters and want to push the tempo,” Edwards said. “We have to do a better job of taking quality shots and making sure we are rotating back defensively. It’s a big rivalry for us and will help us gauge where we’re at with them.”By David Peck