UNDEFEATED NO MORE

WORLAND – Worland finally met its match on the hardwood on Saturday as it hosted Newcastle in a 3A Northeast as the Lady Warriors played their final game this season in Warrior Gymnasium.

And the hot-shooting Lady Dogies did what no team has been able to do all season: Beat the Lady Warriors.

No. 4 Newcastle (14-3 overall, 3-2 3A Northeast) scored double digits in every quarter – and seemed like it couldn't miss at time – and never trailed as it upset No. 1 Worland (16-1, 4-1) 61-51.

"Defensively, (Saturday) was probably the most flat we've come out all season," Worland girls basketball coach Mark Mortimer said on Monday.

Newcastle's Abby Gray, Alyssa Dawson and Hannah Cass did a majority of the damage in the first quarter, a recurring theme for the game as the three seniors accounted for 54 of Newcastle's 61 points on the night.After the first eight minutes, the Lady Warriors trailed the Lady Dogies 12-8.

After Newcastle built a 17-10 lead, Worland mounted a quick 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 17-16 with time running low in the second quarter. But Dawson and Cass connected on back-to-back 3s to push the lead back to seven as Newcastle had a 23-16 advantage at the half.

Worland quickly erased that lead in the third quarter, using a 7-0 run to tie the game at 23-all. From there, the two teams traded baskets back and forth with the scored tied 29-29.

Newcastle had a 7-0 run of its own to take control late in the quarter, but Bryanna Mickelson scored off of an offensive rebound and Haley Schneider was fouled on a 3-point attempt and connected on all three free throw attempts to cut Newcastle’s lead to 36-34 heading into the fourth quarter.

Lyndzi Rich tied things back up at 36-36 to open the final stanza, but Newcastle answered with another quick run – and this time, Worland couldn’t answer back.

The closest the Lady Warriors could get was within five points, but the Lady Dogies iced the game at the free throw line to preserve the upset as they outscored Worland 25-17 in the final quarter

“That game will be an aberration when we look back on our season,” Mortimer said. “It’s something that we haven’t allowed – especially that fourth quarter. A team coming out and putting up 25 on us is absolutely unheard of.”

Worland’s only struggle on offense came from beyond the 3-point line where it shot 1 of 18 on the game. Other than that, nothing seemed out of the ordinary as the Lady Warriors had three in double figures led by Schneider with 15, Bailey Gibbons with 13 and Rich with 11.

Up next, the Lady Warriors will be on the road the entire weekend as they travel to Wheatland on Friday, Feb. 19 and Torrington on Saturday, Feb. 20.