Lady Huskies earn third-place trophy

The Lady Huskies finished their successful basketball season with a third place at the state tournament for the second year in a row. They went undefeated in their conference and had an overall record of 21-5. 

“Overall, it was a great weekend,” said Coach Cheryl Haslam. “I’m proud of the way the girls played and we had a successful weekend and season. Several of them showed huge improvements throughout the season and they really played well together as a team.” 

Burlington went into the first game with Lingle- Ft. Laramie with uncertain expectations. “They have been a strong team all season. They have a couple of really good guards that we knew we would need to keep track of and try to shut down their scoring,” said Haslam. “They were still the high scorers on their team with 13 and 16 points, but we did a really good job of shutting down their inside game. We out-rebounded them and that was the difference in the game.” 

The game was close throughout the first three quarters, but the Lady Huskies outscored Lingle 22-10 in the fourth quarter to win 61-46. Burlington also outrebounded Lingle 49-35 and had 25 second chance points compared to Lingle’s seven. 

Paxton Philpott had a big game with 20 points and six rebounds. Sarah McNiven had 14 points. Naomi McNiven earned a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Hailee Winterholler led in rebounds with 12 and added six points. 

Friday, Burlington faced Southeast in the semi-final game. 

“I knew this would be a tough game,” said Haslam, adding, “They are always a very disciplined and tough team to play.” 

The game was tight throughout. Five different times, the score was tied. In the end, Southeast prevailed 34-24.

“They just played a better defensive game than us and shut down our offense,” said Haslam. “In the end, we had to start fouling and they made their free throws to put them up and win by 10. We were really hoping that this game would have had a better outcome, but I was glad the girls played through the whole game. It was a tough game physically and mentally for us.” 

Philpott led the team with nine points, six rebounds and three steals and S. McNiven added seven points.

The loss sent the Lady Huskies into a game against Riverside for third place. It was the third meeting for the two teams this season and proved to be another close battle with Burlington leading 19-16 at the half. “We came out and got some good steals off of our press and were able to get the ball on the inside to Sarah to help us score 22 in the third quarter,” said Haslam. “We knew that we would need to try to shut down Brooklyn Paxton and Johnna Clifford. They had been having a great weekend for the Rebels. Brooklyn still ended up with 18, but the girls did a good job shutting down the others on defense.”

The Lady Huskies won, 50-37. Philpott led the team with a double-double, 19 points and 10 rebounds and N. McNiven had 13 points, four steals and three assists. Dalley Bassett had nine rebounds. 

The Lady Huskies already have next season on their minds. “I’m looking forward to next season already because it’s going to be essentially the same lineup,” said Haslam. “We will miss Breanne and her leadership for sure. She made a huge difference in several games for us this season.” 

Ft. Laramie  9  14  13  10 – 46

Burlington   13 14  12  22 – 61

BURLINGTON – S. McNiven 6-10 2-3 14, Philpott 7-17 6-9 20, N. McNiven 3-7 5-6 11, Winterholler 2-5 2-6 6, Bassett 4-12 2-4 10. Totals 22-61 17-28 61. 

REBOUNDS – Burlington 44 (Winterholler 12, N. McNiven 10). STEALS – Burlington 11 (Walker, Philpott 3). ASSISTS – Burlington 13 (Walker, N. McNiven 3). TURNOVERS – Burlington 23. 

Southeast  4  12  7  11 – 34

Burlington  6   4  10  4  – 24

BURLINGTON – Walker 0-4 1-2 1, S. McNiven 3-6 1-2 7, Philpott 4-15 1-2 9, N. McNiven 2-11 0-2 5, Bassett 1-6 0-0 2. Totals 10-46 3-8 24. 

3-POINT GOALS – N. McNiven 1. REBOUNDS – Burlington 32 (Philpott, N. McNiven, Winterholler 6). STEALS – Burlington 9 (Philpott 3). ASSISTS – Burlington 4. TURNOVERS – Burlington 15. 

Riverside  7   9    9  12 – 37

Burlington 8  11  22   9 – 50

BURLINGTON – Walker 2-9 1-2 5, S. McNiven 3-10 2-3 8, Philpott 7-24 5-10 19, N. McNiven 4-13 5-6 13, Winterholler 1-4 0-0 2, Bassett 1-5 1-2 3. Totals 18-69 14-23 50. 

REBOUNDS – Burlington 39 (Philpott 10, Bassett 9). STEALS – Burlington 14 (Walker 5, N. McNiven 4). ASSISTS – Burlington 14 (Walker, N. McNiven 3). TURNOVERS – Burlington 13.