Lady Huskies undefeated in Northwest Conference

The Lady Huskies wrapped up their regular season with a conference win against Riverside. Burlington finished their season with an overall 20-3 record and an 8-0 conference record. They will head into the regional tournament with a first-place seeding. 

Senior Night was held in Burlington on Saturday to honor the four seniors: Dalley Bassett, Naomi McNiven, Paxton Philpott and Hailee Winterholler. “You never know how these games are going to go with emotions, but the girls played well,” said Coach Cheryl Haslam. 

The Lady Huskies started out strong, outscoring the Lady Rebels 26-14 headed into the half. They kept up the pace throughout the game and won 68-39. “Our biggest problem in the first half was our fouls. Riverside ended up in the bonus and half of their points were off made free throws. 

“Going into this game, we always know that we need to try to shut down Brooklyn Paxton and Johanna Clifford. These two were their high scorers again for them, but the girls did a pretty good job controlling how much they touched the ball. The last time we played them, they dribbled through our press a few times, so we adjusted a few things and our girls did a great job of stopping the ball and helping when we needed. They came away with some good steals on our full court press.”

The Lady Huskies had an impressive 29 steals and outrebounded Riverside, but only 33-30. “Our rebounding wasn’t as strong as it has been offensively this season, but that gives us something to work on this week in practice to prepare for Regionals,” said Haslam.

Sarah McNiven led the Lady Huskies offensively with 24 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Paxton Philpott added 14 points, five rebounds, 10 steals and five assists. Naomi McNiven had 13 points, five rebounds and six steals. Dalley Bassett led in rebounding with 11 to go with five steals and nine points. “Sarah had a great game, the girls were able to find her on the inside. All four seniors worked hard and contributed well to the outcome of the game,” said Haslam. 

Burlington will face Saratoga on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at the Field House in Lander. 

Riverside     5    9  11  14 – 39

Burlington  13  13  24  18 – 68 

BURLINGTON – Haslam 1-9 2-3 4, P. Philpott 6-17 2-3 14, S. McNiven 8-15 8-10 24, K. Winterholler 1-1 0-0 2, N. McNiven 4-14 3-5 13, H. Winterholler 1-5 0-0 2, Bassett 4-13 1-2 9. Totals 25-74 16-23 68. 

3-POINT GOALS – N. McNiven 2. REBOUNDS – Burlington 33 (Bassett 11, S. McNiven 8, P. Philpott 5, N. McNiven 5). STEALS – Burlington 29 (P. Philpott 10, N. McNiven 6, S. McNiven 4, H. Winterholler 4, Bassett 4). ASSISTS – Burlington 16 (P. Philpott 5, H. Winterholler 5, Haslam 3, N. McNiven 3). TURNOVERS – 18.