Offense hard to come by for Lady Bulldogs in two losses

It was a tough weekend for the Lady Bulldogs, who fell at home to the second- and third-ranked teams in the state.

Class 3A third-ranked Pinedale beat the Lady Bulldogs 39-31 Friday night, and second-ranked Lander stopped Lovell Saturday afternoon, 50-21. The Lady Bulldogs had trouble scoring the basketball in both contests.

“Pinedale just played us really aggressive and with a lot of physicality, and we struggled,” head coach Brian May said. “We had a good first quarter, and then it kind of dropped off from there as far as handling their physicality. And I think we got in some foul trouble. It hurts when Brooklin (Clark) gets in foul trouble. It kind of takes some rebounding away and just overall aggressiveness.”

As May noted, the Lady Bulldogs played a strong first quarter. Down 5-0 early, Lovell responded with a jumper and a bank shot plus a free throw by Avery Walker to knot the score 5-5. Trailing 9-7 later in the quarter, Lovell took a 13-9 lead on back-to-back three-pointers from the top of the key by junior Jenna Hessenthaler before Pinedale hit a basket to make the score 13-11 at the end of one.

Remarkably, each team scored just two points in the second quarter as Lovell held on for a 15-13 halftime lead.

The Lady Bulldogs built a 19-15 lead midway through the third quarter, only to see Pinedale rally on a 9-1 run to close the quarter, leading 24-20 after three.

A fast-break drive by Becca Nichols, a sister-to-sister back door pass from Avery to Ali Walker and two free throws by Hannity Felkins gave Lovell a 26-24 lead early in the fourth, and a power drive by Clark later in the quarter kept Lovell up 31-29 with 3:30 left to play. Unfortunately, the Lady Bulldogs would not score again, missing shots down the stretch while Pinedale hit 9 of 10 free throws down the stretch to win 39-31.

May said the Lovell pressure defense didn’t produce the turnovers and fast-break baskets it normally does, as Pinedale finished with only nine turnovers. Neither team shot well, Lovell at 23 percent from the field, Pinedale 26 percent.

“I just think our overall aggressiveness at the offensive end was not there in either game this weekend,” May said. “We didn’t have anybody in double figures the whole weekend. I just think that Pinedale took the initiative to be more aggressive with our girls and more physical. That’s something we’ve got to learn how to handle better, not allow those things to take us out of our offense.”

Clark finished with 8 points, Avery Walker 7, Hessenthaler 6, Ali Walker and Felkins 3 each, Nichols and Morgan Harshman 2 apiece. Avery Walker led the team with six rebounds and three assists, and Clark finished with five boards.

Lander loss

Lovell continued to struggle at the offensive end Saturday against second-ranked Lander, finishing with just 21 points. Lander outscored Lovell 10-6 in the first quarter, 15-4 in the second, 13-8 in the third and 12-3 in the fourth. Lovell shot 21 percent from the field, Lander 48 percent, and the Lady Bulldogs struggled at the foul line, hitting just two of 13 free-throw attempts.

“They have a mature team,” May noted. “They have some girls that have returned from last year, same with Pinedale. That kind of solidifies their ability to run their offenses and defenses, and they’re confident. We struggled with their pick and roll offense quite a bit, kind of toward the end, and they have some shooters.

“They’ve got some length, and we seem to struggle with lengthier fours and fives on the other team, just finishing, which could open up more of our perimeter game.”

May said Lander employed a “pack line defense” in which they pack the middle of the key to prevent teams from driving and getting to the basket.

“They were really trying to take away some of our cuts and dribble penetration,” May said. “Lander is a good team. They’re organized and coached well, and they have multiple perimeter shooters. If you try to take away their dribble penetration, and you over play to stop that, they kick it to a three-pointer shooter.”

Clark scored 7 points for Lovell, Ali Walker and Harshman 5 each, Nichols and Avery Walker 2 apiece. Clark pulled down eight rebounds, Felkins six. Avery Walker had three assists and three steals to lead the team.

Conference games

Now 11-6 overall but just 1-4 in the 3A West, the Lady Bulldogs will travel to Worland (6-11,0-5) tonight (Thursday) and host number one Cody (15-0, 5-0) on Saturday.

The Bulldogs beat Worland at home on January 22, 49-28, but May said the Warriors have improved since then and will be tougher at home.

“We beat them before, but they’re playing tough. Mark (Mortimer) has them playing really good,” May said. “Looks like they’re playing a lot of 1-3-1 zone and trying to take away certain things from teams. They’re a good rebounding team, and they’ve got (Kathya) Navarro. She averages probably 18 a game.”

Undefeated and top-ranked Cody will be a bear to try to tackle, May said, but his Lady Bulldogs will give it their all. Cody beat Lovell 82-46 in Cody on January 13.

“We’ll try some different things defensively, try to slow them down and, hopefully, not allow dribble penetration into the paint. (We need to) take away their three-point shooters and break their pressure, which is always going to be a constant.

“So our girls have to be ready for that nonstop physicality and pressure. Every coach talks about (Grace) Hayes (26.7 ppg). It’s like, what do you do with her? You know, she’s just all around. She gets after it and covers the floor really well.”

Tip-off times are 4 (JV) and 5:30 p.m. in Worland Thursday and 1 and 2:30 p.m. Saturday vs. Cody at Winterholler Gym.