Lady Huskies come together despite losses

The Burlington Lady Huskies went 1-2 at the Wrangler Classic the weekend before the holiday break. 

“It’s always hard to start with losses,” said Coach Cheryl Haslam. “But it’s good to start out the season this way and then be at our peak performance during the postseason.”

Thursday night, the Lady Huskies played 3A Lyman. “We had watched a bit of film but haven’t ever played them before. The difference in this game was the second quarter. We only scored two points to their 14. We were REALLY struggling to get our shots to fall. Lyman is a good team that pushed the ball and played at a very quick pace.” Burlington lost, 48-38.

Paxton Philpott led the team with 16 points and five steals with Naomi McNiven close behind with 15 points and seven rebounds. Dalley Bassett led the team on defense with 10 boards. 

Friday morning brought Farson-Eden and the Lady Huskies came away with a 40-29 win. “Farson is always really scrappy. They don’t let loose balls go untouched and are always pushing. We had a pretty solid first half, but then struggled a bit with Farson’s press and passed the ball away quite a bit. This was another game where we struggled on offense, both with running through our plays and getting the ball to go in the hoop. They pushed through to the end though, thankfully.” 

Philpott led the team with 15 points and five rebounds. Breanne Walker had 10 points and four steals. 

Burlington faced Cokeville to finish up the tournament. “Before this game, we had some really good conversations about using everyone on the team and trusting each other to run the offense,” said Haslam. “They played so much better.” 

The Lady Huskies started with intensity, outscoring the Panthers 20-11 in the first quarter. “The girls came out so strong. They were communicating well, shots were falling and they were working hard on defense.” 

Burlington continued to hold an eight-point lead into halftime but one of Cokeville’s players went on a run in the beginning of the third quarter. “She had 14 points in a matter of minutes. She’s quick and we struggled guarding her on the inside. We adjusted and held her to three points in the fourth quarter. We ended up fouling to try to get the ball back at the end of the game and Cokeville went 6-of-8 from the line. Usually when we face Cokeville in Shoshoni we don’t play well at all. The girls played together and fought all the way through. This was so great to see.” Burlington was edged out by Cokeville’s free throws and lost, 56-49.

Hailee Winterholler led with 13 points and six rebounds, Walker had 10 points and three steals, Philpott had nine points and three assists and Bassett also had nine points. Sarah McNiven led the defense with six rebounds. 

“We had a few rough games, but then they really came together and played as a team and I was proud of the way they stuck through the weekend and finished strong in their last game,” said Haslam. 

The Lady Huskies will resume their season next week with a game in Meeteetse on Thursday, Jan. 9, tip off at 5:30 p.m., and their first home game on Saturday, Jan. 11, with Dubois, tip off at noon. 

Lyman       15  14  11  8 – 48 

Burlington  13   2  12  11 – 38 

BURLINGTON – Walker 1-10 0-0 2, S. McNiven 1-3 0-0 2, Philpott 6-17 4-6 16, N. McNiven 5-12 3-4 15, Winterholler 0-5 1-2 1, Bassett 1-9 0-0 2. Totals 14-57 8-12 38. 

3-POINT GOALS – N. McNiven 2. REBOUNDS – Burlington 27 (Bassett 10, N. McNiven 7). STEALS – Burlington 14 (Philpott 5, Winterholler 4). ASSISTS – Burlington 2. TURNOVERS – Burlington 9. 

Farson-Eden   8   4  11  6 – 29

Burlington     11 13   9   7 – 40 

BURLINGTON – Walker 4-14 0-3 10, McNulty 0-2 1-2 1, S. McNiven 1-3 3-5 5, Philpott 3-17 8-8 15, N. McNiven 2-7 1-2 6, Bassett 1-7 0-0 3. Totals 11-54 13-20 40. 

3-POINT GOALS – Walker 2, Philpott, N. McNiven, Bassett 1. REBOUNDS – Burlington 25 (Philpott, Winterholler 5, McNulty, Bassett 4). STEALS – Burlington 17 (N. McNiven 5, Walker 4). TURNOVERS – Burlington 14. 

Cokeville    11  12  18  15 – 56

Burlington  20  11  13   5 – 49 

BURLINGTON – Walker 4-11 1-4 10, S. McNiven 0-1 3-4 3, Philpott 4-16 0-0 9, Haslam 2-4 1-2 5, Winterholler 6-13 1-1 13, Bassett 2-6 4-6 9. Totals 18-52 10-17 49. 

3-POINT GOALS – Walker, Philpott, Bassett 1. REBOUNDS – Burlington 31 (S. McNiven, Winterholler 6). STEALS – Burlington 9 (Walker 3, McNulty 2). ASSISTS – Burlington 10 (McNulty, Philpott 3). TURNOVERS – Burlington 17.