ONE STEP CLOSER

GLENROCK – The first day of the 3A East Regional Basketball Tournament couldn’t have gone any better for either the Warriors or the Lady Warriors.

Holding the top seed from the 3A Northeast quadrant, both had convincing wins to kick off the 2016 postseason and put themselves one game away from qualifying for the state tournament next weekend in Casper.

The Warriors (21-3 overall) defeated Torrington (4-17) 66-28 in the first game of a Worland double-header at Glenrock High School and the Lady Warriors (20-1) followed up with a 62-33 drubbing of Glenrock (2-19) in the second game.

Early on, it looked to be a repeat of the first game between the two teams in Worland back on Jan. 30 in which the Lady Warriors opened the game on a 21-0 run and coasted to a 65-25 victory. The Lady Warriors scored five quick points in the first 30 seconds of the game.

After that, though, the offense had some trouble scoring at times – but Worland still held a 13-5 lead after the first quarter and extended it into double digits in the second quarter, taking a 27-15 lead into halftime. It wasn’t until the second half when the Lady Warriors ran away with it, outscoring Glenrock 20-12 in the third quarter and 15-6 in the fourth quarter for the final 29-point margin.

“Overall, it wasn’t one of the best games that we’ve played. But the thing I was most proud of is we never allowed them to get back into it enough for them to feel comfortable and feel like they could win the game,” Worland girls basketball coach Mark Mortimer said on Thursday. “Our girls were frustrated, Glenrock did a nice job defensively really taking our posts out of the game.

“It was good to see us have to work hard to get that win.”

Haley Schneider led with 17 points while Bailey Gibbons was also in double digits with 16 of her own. Bryanna Mickelson and Lyndzi Rich both had eight while Aubrey Goodrick scored six, Carly King scored three and Sabrina Schroefel and Charlee Townsend both scored two.

Worland will Douglas in the semifinals today at 4:30 p.m. after the No. 3-seeded Lady Bearcats sprung an upset over No. 2 seed Rawlins on Thursday, 49-27.

“We can’t overlook Douglas. I don’t care what the scores have been from our last two games, we’ve got to play (Friday),” Mortimer said. “Douglas is a tough team and it’s not going to be an easy game for us.”

Warrior win

For the Warriors, their first-round matchup against Torrington never seemed to be in doubt. The Trailblazers gave them a tough test on Feb. 20, keeping the game close through three quarters before Worland pulled away in the final frame.

In the second matchup, the Warriors left no doubt with a 38-point victory over the Trailblazers on Thursday.

“Once we started pressing, I think we got our legs into the game a little bit and took off from there,” Worland boys basketball coach Aaron Abel said. “We started hitting some shots and attacking the zone a little bit better. Our press really didn’t get us a lot of turnovers, but it picked up the pace of the game.”

Senior Hoyt Nicholas outscored Torrington’s entire team by himself in the win, pouring in 32 points to lead all scorers. Braedon Page also had nine and Mauricio Caballero had seven.

Up next for Worland will be a semifinals matchup at 3 p.m. with Rawlins, the No. 2 seed from the 3A Southeast. The Warriors and Outlaws have faced once prior this season, a 72-64 overtime win in Worland back on Jan. 29.

Rawlins had a much tougher opponent in the first round on Thursday, needing overtime to get past defending state champion Buffalo 79-72 in the opening game of the tournament.

Today, Worland and Rawlins will each look to not only advance to the regional title game on Saturday, but more importantly, punch a ticket to the state tournament next weekend.

“They’re a very good team. They do so much defensively that they’re hard to prepare for. They’ll throw every kind of zone defense and press against you,” Abel said. “They had a couple of role players step up really big for them (against Buffalo). They played really well and we’re expecting a pretty good challenge from them.

“It’s going to be a good game, hopefully we can come out of it with a win.