Lady Huskies beat Cokeville for third

The Lady Huskies faced some obstacles at the state tournament but put up a strong showing and earned third place. “Overall, I am really proud of the way that the girls played this weekend,” said Coach Cheryl Haslam. “They stepped up at the right moments. Obviously, we would have loved to be in the championship game, but I am very pleased with third.”
The first game for the Lady Huskies was against Rock River. Burlington jumped to a quick lead and went on a seven-point scoring run in the first quarter. They built on their lead and led 35-17 at the half. “The girls came out ready to play. They worked really hard on our full court press. They got several five-second calls when Rock River couldn’t get the ball in and they scored 26 points off of turnovers,” said Haslam.
Burlington’s bench contributed 28 points in the 59-37 win. Dalley Bassett led the team with 14 points and six rebounds, followed by Jessie Michaels with 13 points and Paxton Philpott with 11 points and three assists.
The win setup the Lady Huskies to face Upton, the No. 1 seed from the East. “We knew this would be a tough game, but the girls seemed ready to play,” said Haslam. “We knew that we would need to shut down their bigs and make them beat us from the outside. We did well at times with this, but their two main players still had most of their points.”
Upton took control of the first quarter and a significant injury to starter Breanne Walker, with one minute left, threw the Lady Huskies for a loop. “It was a very emotional game for the girls after Breanne’s dislocated finger,” said Haslam. “It was a pretty terrible accident and it really got to the girls. They were able to recover though and work really hard for the rest of the game.”
The Lady Huskies fought back and outscored Upton in the second and fourth quarters, but it wasn’t quite enough as the Lady Huskies lost 51-48. “The one thing that didn’t help us out was our free throw percentage. We were 11-of-23; that could have been the difference in the game for sure. Sarah McNiven really stepped up in this game. She had some crucial rebounds and inside points for us and Jessie hit a few 3’s in a row at the end of the fourth quarter to help us close the gap.”
Michaels led the team with 19 points, eight rebounds and six steals and S. McNiven had 12 points and seven rebounds.
The loss put the Lady Huskies up against Cokeville in the third-place game, for the 3rd year in a row. “The girls were ready to play after our disappointing loss to them at regionals,” said Haslam. “We came out really strong in the first quarter and outscored them 19-13. We didn’t let their press get to us as much as last week and pushed through. Jessie started out HUGE with three 3-pointers in the first quarter and that was enough to keep the girls rolling.”
It was a close game throughout, with three lead changes and six ties. Burlington started the fourth quarter up by four points and they grew that lead to 10 points but Cokeville chipped away the lead and tied the score up with 14 seconds left on the clock. Michaels brought the ball down, took a shot and missed. Hailee Winterholler underneath fought for the ball took  shot at the buzzer and made it to give the Huskies a 49-47 win. “It was a pretty great feeling for all of them, and us, to beat Cokeville,” said Haslam. “That is something we strive for every year. To end with a win against them for third was pretty fantastic.”
Michaels led the team again with 21 points and eight rebounds and S. McNiven had another big game leading rebounds with 13 boards and eight points.
Rock River   8   9    9  11 — 37
Burlington  15  20  11 13 — 59
BURLINGTON — Walker 2-7 0-0 4, Philpott 5-8 1-4 11, Preator 2-5 0-0 4, Michaels 5-10 2-2 13, Winterholler 1-3 2-2 4, Bassett 6-15 2-3 14, S. McNiven 3-6 3-4 9. Totals 24-65 10-15 59.
REBOUNDS — Burlington 33 (Bassett 6, S. McNiven, Winterholler 5. STEALS — Burlington 15. ASSISTS — Burlington 6 (Philpott 3). TURNOVERS — Burlington 7.
Upton       15  11 14  11 — 51
Burlington 7  12  12  17 — 48
BURLINGTON — Philpott 1-5 2-6 4, Michaels 5-19 6-10 19, N. McNiven 3-12 1-2 7, Winterholler 0-4 2-2 2, Bassett 2-7 0-2 4, S. McNiven 6-10 0-1 12. Totals 17-66 11-23 48.
3-POINT GOALS — Michaels 3. REBOUNDS — Burlington 49 (Michaels 8, N. McNiven, S. McNiven 7). STEALS — Burlington 16 (Michaels 6). ASSISTS — Burlington 6, (Philpott 3). TURNOVERS — Burlington 18.
Cokeville  13  12   9  13 — 47
Burlington 19   8  11  11 — 49
BURLINGTON — Call 0-3 1-2 1, Philpott 2-7 0-0 4, Michaels 6-14 5-6 21, N. McNiven 2-9 1-2 5, Winterholler 2-2 0-0 4, Bassett 3-6 0-2 6, S. McNiven 2-6 4-6 8. Totals 17-47 11-18 49.
3-POINT GOALS — Michaels 4. REBOUNDS — Burlington 42 (S. McNiven 13, Michaels 8). STEALS — Burlington 9 (N. McNiven 3). ASSISTS — Burlington 9 (Call 5). TURNOVERS — Burlington 27.