Huskies fall to Lyman and Cokeville

The Huskies competed in Shoshoni at the Wrangler Classic before the holiday break. 

“The tournament came and went, giving us several good opportunities to test our game,” said Coach Kirby Winland. “Lyman and Cokeville got the better of us, but they aren’t teams we feel like are out of our reach.” 

3A Lyman was first up for the Huskies and Lyman jumped out to a quick lead but the Huskies made it interesting in the last 2:36 of the first quarter. Bruce McNiven scored on a quick two and right after, Paul McNiven stole the ball, dishing it off to Weston Gotfredson for another bucket. In between a few baskets for Lyman, P. McNiven added another three and Gotfredson put back another two. Burlington struggled in the second quarter and went into halftime down, 31-20. They put up a good fight in the second half but fell to Lyman 61-49. B. McNiven led the team with 11 points. P. McNiven had 10 points, Rykael Andrew had nine points and seven rebounds and Gotfredson also had nine points and seven rebounds. Jesus Perez added five steals. 

The Huskies played Riverton’s sophomore team and won 57-29. No stats were available. 

Burlington ended the tournament against Cokeville. The Panthers dominated the first half, out-scoring the Huskies 22-6 in the first quarter, with both teams scoring 8 points in the 2nd quarter. It was a closer game in the second half but the Huskies couldn’t make up the difference and lost, 58-36. Gotfredson had a big game with 14 points and eight rebounds and Howard McNiven added six points and three steals. 

“We are still beating ourselves for the most part, with too many turnovers and bad decision making. We are trying to find a balance right now between being too aggressive and forcing passes and shots and then not being aggressive enough and looking to score. While it can be frustrating as a coach, our boys are being patient with me and asking how they can do better and they keep trying to improve. As a team, this is what we need to keep our focus on, improving each and every day in our skills and knowledge so that by the end of the year we can be prepared to capitalize on an opportunity to go to state. As long as we can keep our focus on the end goal and work as a team, we should be just fine,” ended Winland. 

The Huskies will head to Meeteetse on Thursday, Jan. 9 with JV tipping off at 4 and varsity at 7 and will host Dubois on Saturday, Jan. 11 with a JV tip off at 1:30 and the varsity at 3 p.m. 

Lyman       17  14   17  13 – 61

Burlington  14   6   14  15 – 49 

BURLINGTON – B. McNiven 3-8 5-6 11, P. McNiven 4-8 1-2 10, Andrew 4-11 1-6 9, Gotfredson 3-6 3-4 9, H. McNiven 3-8 2-4 8, Casey 1-8 0-0 2. Totals 18-50 12-22 49. 

3-POINT GOALS – P. McNiven 1. REBOUNDS – Burlington 29 (Andrew, Gotfredson 7). STEALS – Burlington 15 (Perez 5). ASSISTS – Burlington 2 (Gotfredson 2). TURNOVERS – Burlington 33. 

Cokeville   22  8  12  16 – 58 

Burlington   6  8  10  12 – 36 

BURLINGTON – Gotfredson 4-7 6-10 14, H. McNiven 1-7 3-4 6, B. McNiven 2-7 1-1 5, P. McNiven 2-5 0-0 4, Walker 1-3 0-0 2, Casey 1-3 0-0 2, Haslam 1-2 0-0 2, Wardell 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 12-45 11-17 36. 

3-POINT GOALS – H. McNiven 1. REBOUNDS – Burlington 23 (Gotfredson 8). STEALS – Burlington 11 (H. McNiven, Walker 3). ASSISTS – Burlington 5 (Casey 2). TURNOVERS – Burlington 16.