Huskies finish regular season with two more wins

The Burlington Huskies finished the regular season this past week with wins over Riverside and Ten Sleep, solidifying their first place in the Northwest Conference. They finish the regular season with a 16-7 overall record and a 10-0 conference record. 

It was a tight game against Riverside Friday night. The Huskies jumped out to a quick lead, but the Rebels fought back and led by two at the end of the first quarter. Burlington held Riverside to just seven points in the second quarter to take back the lead and held it for the rest of the game. Riverside did make a comeback and brought it within one point at the end of the third quarter and again multiple times in the fourth quarter, but the Huskies held on for the win, 51-46. 

“Basin played us tough on Friday, which was no surprise. When we travel to Basin, they always play well. Kudus to Coach Winters for the culture he is building around protecting home court,” said Coach Kirby Winland. 

Rykael Andrew led the team with 17 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two assists. Weston Gotfredson also had eight rebounds and added nine points. Paul McNiven led steals and assists with three of each. 

Ten Sleep on Saturday was all about the Huskies, 63-25. “Even though the point spread was greater this time around, I thought they also showed signs of improvement from the first time we played,” said Winland. “Credit to our team for getting two wins to close the regular season with a different rotation and starting lineups.” 

Matt Tempany led the team with 13 points and seven rebounds. Levi Wardell had nine points and eight rebounds, Gotfredson had nine points and nine rebounds and Bruce McNiven had nine points, seven rebounds and two steals. Andrew led rebounding with 10. 

“In the last couple of weeks, we’ve really had some unlucky breaks with three ankle sprains, sickness and a hamstring injury,” said Winland. “As a coaching staff, we are doing the best we can to physically get our team back together for regionals this weekend. Coach Cook has spent more than his fair share of time sitting with players in hot and cold tubs trying to help the recovery processes.” 

Coach Winland did share some frustrations that he’s experienced with the mental side of preparations and the lack of cooperation from teams from the Southwest Conference. “Part of the mental preparation includes strategy. Not only have they not posted any of their game film all year, they refused to give us film from when we played them. I don’t believe this is right. If our team wants to put in the time and preparation to scout another team, why would we want to prevent that? In an effort to send the best teams to state and have the best competition we can, would it not only be fair to give us film from the games in which we participated in at the very least? Some may say that it’s strategy; to that I would reply that not all strategies have the best interest of the game of basketball in mind. While the rest of the state shares film, we have the southern conference and Upton who continue to abuse the mutual respect we should have for our competitors,” said Winland. 

The Huskies will be in Lander this weekend for the Class 1A West Regional and will play Encampment first on Thursday at 11 a.m. 

Riverside   14   7  14  11 – 46 

Burlington  12  14 10  15 – 51 

BURLINGTON – Andrew 6-13 3-6 17, Gotfredson 4-10 1-3 9, B. McNiven 1-2 5-6 7, H. McNiven 2-5 2-4 6, Bassett 2-5 2-6 6, Wardell 1-1 2-4 4, Casey 1-6 0-3 2. Totals 17-46 15-29 51. 

3-POINT GOALS – Andrew 2. REBOUNDS – Burlington 37 (Andrew, Gotfredson 8). STEALS – Burlington 11 (P. McNiven 3). ASSISTS – Burlington 8 (P. McNiven 3). TURNOVERS – Burlington 22. 

Ten Sleep   4   7   8   6 – 25

Burlington 18 13 17 15 – 63 

BURLINGTON – Tempany 6-7 1-4 13, Wardell 3-10 3-3 9, Gotfredson 4-5 1-1 9, B. McNiven 4-10 1-2 9, Bassett 3-7 0-0 6, P. McNiven 2-7 1-2 5, Haslam 1-10 1-2 3, H. McNiven 1-1 0-0 3, Andrew 1-3 1-2 3, G. McNiven 0-1 3-4 3. Totals 25-61 12-20 63. 

3-POINT GOALS – H. McNiven 1. REBOUNDS – Burlington 55 (Andrew 10, Gotfredson 9, Wardell 8). STEALS – Burlington 7 (B. McNiven, H. McNiven 2). ASSISTS – Burlington 7 (H. McNiven, Andrew 2). TURNOVERS – Burlington 9.