Lady Bulldogs win two of three at conference tournament

The Lovell Middle School eighth-grade girls basketball team played their conference tournament on their own home court Saturday, their final games of the season.

The girls played Worland, Powell and Riverton and placed third with two wins.

Lovell opened play with a 38-24 win over Worland.

“Worland was a good game to start off the day,” head coach Chris Edwards said. “We had beat them twice during the season, so it gave our girls a chance to get their nerves out. We were able to play with confidence and came out with a double-digit win.”

The score was knotted 10-10 after the first quarter, but Lovell outscored Worland 14-2 in the second to lead 24-12 at halftime. Worland edged Lovell 6-4 in the third quarter, but Lovell won the fourth 10-6 to win by 14 points.

Taylor Henderson led the Lady Bulldogs with 13 points, and Oakley Anderson and Laney Felkins score 8 points each, Janelle Asey 5 and Rubie Weber and Riley Henley 2 points each.

The Lady Bulldogs played Powell in the semifinals, falling 49-37.

“We knew this game would be tough,” Edwards said. “Powell has a pretty unique group of individuals that really know what they are doing.”

Powell took an 11-7 lead after the first quarter, then broke the game open with an 18-13 advantage in the second quarter to lead 29-20 at halftime. Powell edged Lovell 20-17 in the second half to win by 12.

Anderson led Lovell with 15 points, and Felkins scored 8, Weber, Asay and Henderson 4 each, Henley 2.

Playing back-to-back-to-back games, Lovell played Riverton for third place and won 35-30.

“This was an athletic group of girls we were playing, but after playing two previous matches, you could tell both teams had a little fatigue going on,” Edwards said.

Henderson finished with 12 points, Anderson 11, Felkins 6, Weber 4 and Greenlee Pillow and Henley 1 apiece.

Edwards his team has potential, noting, “These girls show a lot of promise, especially moving into high school, and hopefully they’ll all stick to it.”