Lady Huskies with strong start to season

High school basketball is officially underway and the Lady Huskies are 4-0 after the Carbon County Classic Tournament. 

Burlington faced Encampment first on Friday and won 59-9. “They only had five girls because a few didn’t have enough practices to play. These games are so hard to play, especially when you are at a varsity tournament,” said Coach Cheryl Haslam. “As a coach, you don’t want them to let up on their intensity, but you also don’t want to push the ball the whole game either. The girls did a good job of working the ball around and looking inside for our posts. It was a good game to start our season with though, because everyone got to play. It’s nice to have a slower speed game for the freshmen to get some playing time without it being overwhelming.” 

Paxton Philpott and Naomi McNiven led the Lady Huskies each with 14 points. 

Friday night the Lady Huskies played Hanna-Elk Mountain and won 57-27. “This was a much different paced game. They are very physical players. It was good for us to have to push through a game like this. Once again, we kept up our intensity on defense and were able to focus on different things on offense. We were able to push the ball a bit more during this game and work on our transitions. The freshmen did a great job of coming in, despite the craziness of the game. All of our posts had a great game. We were able to work the ball inside and they led in points.” 

Hailee Winterholler led the team with 18 points and four rebounds and Sarah McNiven had 17 points and 16 rebounds. 

Early Saturday morning, Burlington faced off against Saratoga. “We knew this game would be a more intense game than the ones on Friday,” said Haslam. “Saratoga has some bigger girls that would match up well with us on the inside.” 

It was a great back and forth game with Burlington leading at halftime 27-20. Saratoga stepped up in the third quarter and took the lead from Burlington, but the Lady Huskies battled back and retook the lead. “From this point on, it was a close game. We struggled at times guarding their big on the inside and they were able to use her to gain an advantage on us.” 

The real excitement came during the final 12 seconds with the score tied at 51. Burlington fouled and put Saratoga at the free throw line, shooting two. After making one shot, Saratoga led by one with 2.3 seconds left.  The Lady Huskies threw the ball down the court to N. McNiven, who sank the deep three buzzer-beater to win the game for Burlington. “We were all pretty excited,” Haslam said. “Even though these kinds of games are stressful, it is good for the girls to have close games they have to fight for.” 

S. McNiven led the team with 18 points and 10 rebounds. 

The final game of the tournament was against Ft. Washakie and Burlington won 64-38. “The younger girls got a lot of playing time and saw some success in this game,” said Haslam. “This was also a physical game, but the girls handled it well and pushed through. The freshmen did some great things this game. They stepped up and played well.”  

The majority of the team added to the score and N. McNiven led with 10 points and Kortney Winterholler led with six rebounds and six points and Madison Aagard with five rebounds and five points. 

The Lady Huskies hosted Rocky at home on Tuesday night and will compete in the Wrangler Classic in Shoshoni on Friday and Saturday. 

Encampment   1    6    0   2 – 9

Burlington      20  17  17   5 – 59 

BURLINGTON – Haslam 2-6 0-0 4, Philpott 6-10 0-0 14, Aagard 0-1 1-2 1, S. McNiven 4-10 3-6 11, Stanworth 4-6 0-0 8, K. Winterholler 1-3 0-0 2, N. McNiven 6-9 2-2 14, H. Winterholler 2-8 1-2 5. Totals 25-58 7-14 59. 

3-POINT GOALS – Philpott 2. REBOUNDS – Burlington 24 (S. McNiven 4). STEALS – Burlington 20 (N. McNiven 5, Philpott 4). ASSISTS – Burlington 8 (H. Winterholler 3). TURNOVERS – Burlington 4. 

H.E.M.         5   3    7    9 – 24

Burlington  19   9  15  12 – 55 

BURLINGTON – Philpott 3-10 1-3 7, S. McNiven 8-15 1-2 17, Stanworth 0-1 1-2 1, N. McNiven 1-11 3-4 5, H. Winterholler 8-10 2-2 18, Bassett 3-8 0-1 7. Totals 23-62 8-22 55. 

3-POINT GOALS – Bassett 1. REBOUNDS – Burlington 45 (S. McNiven 16). STEALS – Burlington 11 (Philpott, Stanworth 3). ASSISTS – Burlington 6 (Philpott, N. McNiven 2). TURNOVERS – Burlington 6. 

Saratoga    11    9   17   15 – 52

Burlington  12  15   12   15 – 54 

BURLINGTON – Haslam 2-6 0-0 5, Philpott 3-11 0-0 6, Aagard 1-3 0-0 2, S. McNiven 9-21 0-0 18, Stanworth 2-4 0-0 4, N. McNiven 4-17 2-4 11, H. Winterholler 4-7 0-2 8. Totals 25-69 2-6 54. 

3-POINT GOALS – Haslam 1, N. McNiven 1. REBOUNDS – Burlington 24 (S. McNiven 10). STEALS – Burlington 16 (Philpott 6, N. McNiven 5). ASSISTS – Burlington 12 (Philpott 5). TURNOVERS – Burlington 10. 

FT. Washakie   6  13  12  7 – 38

Burlington      22  14  13  15 – 64

BURLINGTON – C. Philpott 2-6 2-2 6, K. McNiven 2-5 2-2 6, Haslam 2-2 0-0 5, P. Philpott 3-6 0-0 6, Aagard 2-4 1-2 5, S. McNiven 3-4 0-0 6, Stanworth 4-11 0-0 8, K. Winterholler 3-11 0-0 6, N. McNiven 4-7 2-4 10, Gotfredson 1-7 0-0 2, H. Winterholler 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 27-69 9-12 64. 

3-POINT GOALS – Haslam 1. REBOUNDS – Burlington 35 (K. Winterholler 6, Aagard 5). STEALS – Burlington 12 (H. Winterholler 3). ASSISTS – Burlington 11 (K. McNiven, H. Winterholler 3). TURNOVERS – Burlington 19.