Top ranked Bulldogs sweep three to remain undefeated

The Lovell Bulldogs were voted number one in Class 3A for the first time last week in the WyoPreps poll, and they lived up to the billing with three wins at the East-West Classic in Douglas Friday and Saturday.

Lovell demolished Burns Friday, 81-24, survived a battle against host Douglas Saturday morning, 58-56, and clobbered Wheatland 56-39 to close out the tournament.

The Bulldogs head into the holiday break 6-0.

“Overall, it was a good weekend,” head coach Shane Durtsche said. “We showed continued growth with a little bit better competition. We were forced to use each other and run our offense. It was good to see when we actually had resistance how we handled it.

“We can still get better. Our defensive communication needs to get better on our rotations and staying connected. I thought our on-ball pressure was pretty good, and our one-pass-away pressure was good. We continue to out-rebound people.”

Burns

Lovell came out hot against Burns and blew out to a 37-8 lead by the end of the first quarter as Matthew Newman lit up the scoreboard with 12 points and Jace Nicholls and Owen Walker added 8 each. The Bulldogs then settled in with a more normal pace and outscored Burns 44-16 the rest of the way.

Durtsche said there is a fine line between not wanting to run up the score and working on some things, especially when what you want to work on is getting out in transition.

“You can’t fall back too much when you’re trying to work on that,” he said. “We weren’t pressing, but we were working on what we do.

“We did that. We were able to get out and share the basketball and get good shots. They stalled in the second quarter, and we went into a 1-3-1 trap to speed them up a little.”

Newman outscored the entire Burns squad by himself, finishing with 31 points. 

Walker added 11, Nicholls and James Blau 8 each, Robert Romero and Kyle Wilson 6 apiece, Brody Muller 4, Owen Edwards 3 and Kaeson Anderson and Cash Wassmer 2 each.

Douglas

The Douglas game was a barnburner as the third-ranked Bearcats, having knocked off Powell the night before, gave the Bulldogs all they wanted.

“They were up for us,” Durtsche said. “We need to get used to this. We’re going to get everyone’s best shot. They played well and have a winning position. They were playing at home and had a pretty good crowd, even at 10:30 in the morning. 

Lovell jumped out to a 10-0 lead off the opening tip as Anderson drilled two three-pointers and Walker scored twice inside, but the Bearcats rallied to go on a 10-0 run of their own, including three treys, and “the rest of the way it was a dogfight,” Durtsche said.

The Bulldogs led 18-14 after the first quarter but struggled to score in the second quarter as Douglas took a 26-22 halftime lead with Lovell scoring only four points in the quarter.

“We had a bad second quarter,” Durtsche said. “We got really stagnant offensively with turnovers, and we settled for one pass and a three-pointer without going inside. Our defense was pretty good. They hit some good, contested shots.”

The two teams heated up in the third quarter and combined for 40 points. Douglas edged Lovell 21-19 to lead 47-41 with one quarter to play. The Bulldogs then clamped down defensively in the fourth quarter, outscoring the home team 17-9 to win 58-56.

A pair of baskets by Walker got the Bulldogs going in the fourth, and the Bulldogs took a 50-49 lead on a clutch trey by Romero. Douglas knotted the score 50-50, but a power rebound and resulting three-point play put Lovell up 53-50. A follow by Nicholls and a jumper by Anderson kept the Bulldogs in the lead, 57-53, with a minute to play, and Newman hit one of two at the line with 18 seconds left.

Trailing 58-55, Douglas missed a trey but got the ball back on an offensive rebound and called time out. A player put up a wild trey, and Lovell was whistled for a foul, giving Douglas three chances at the line to tie the score with under a second to play. The first free throw missed, and the second hit. An intentional miss on the third was rebounded by Walker, preserving the 58-56 win.

Walker had a monster game on the boards and finished with 16 points and 19 rebounds. Anderson had 17 points, four rebounds and five assists, Nicholls 10 points, seven boards and three assists. Romero finished with 6 points and four assists, Newman 5 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Edwards and Wilson added 2 points each.

“Multiple kids stepped up,” Durtsche said. “We had five kids on the court at the end, and each one of them stepped up at a different time.

Wheatland

In a Bulldogs vs. Bulldogs matchup, Wheatland gave Lovell a challenge in the Lovell finale Saturday afternoon before Lovell prevailed 56-39. Durtsche noted that Wheatland was playing without a starting point guard and will be stronger down the road.

“They’ll be a different team. They’ll be solid when it’s all said and done,” Durtsche said.

Lovell took a 19-13 lead after the first period and led 31-20 at halftime. Lovell outscored Wheatland 25-19 in the second half to win by 17 points.

“I was never really worried,” Durtsche said. “We went deep into the bench, even in the first half.”

Walker finished with 14 points for Lovell, Newman 13, Nicholls 10, Anderson and Edwards 6 apiece, Romero 3 and Blau and Wilson 2 each.

“Owen Edwards had a nice weekend,” Durtsche noted. “He played really well for the JVs and played quality minutes on varsity.”

The Bulldogs are off for the holidays and will return to action Friday, Jan. 10, when they host the rival Rocky Mountain Grizzlies at 4 (JV) and 7 p.m., then open conference play on Tuesday, Jan. 14, hosting Cody at 4 and 7 p.m.