Lady Pioneers looking to finish conference schedule strong

TEN SLEEP - The Ten Sleep Lady Pioneers split their two conference games last week against Burlington and Meeteetse and with two more conference games on schedule this week the squad is out to make it a 2-0 week.

Currently the Lady Pioneers (8-8 overall, 3-2 1A Northwest conference) are sitting second in the 1A Northwest conference, one game ahead of Dubois and Meeteetse. Even after defeating the Lady Huskies 48-30 and losing to the Lady Longhorns 31-27.

Vs. Burlington

Against Burlington Ten Sleep tied a season high of 48 points while shooting 52 percent from the field. What impressed TSHS girls basketball coach Sarah Novak about her team's performance was their ability to solve the zone defense.

"(Burlington) zoned us and we hit some perimeter shots. We haven't seen a lot of zone this season but when we have we've been anemic. So it was good to see the girls get some good looks and have the confidence to take them. We got up 48 shots which is good because that's been our goal this season to get more shots up," said coach Novak.

While their defense struggled in the first half Ten Sleep took a 25-20 lead into halftime. After some adjustments during the break the Lady Pioneers held Burlington to 10 points for the entire second half.

"It was a struggle in that first half but we were able to go up 25-20 at halftime. They shot the ball better than we had anticipated and we weren't doing well with our closeouts. We got that corrected at halftime and played marvelous ball in the third quarter. We took it to (Burlington) and took control of the game," said coach Novak.

Freshman Bryley Moore led the Lady Pioneers in scoring with 13 points in the 48-30 win Friday night at Ten Sleep High School. Sophomore Kinley Erickson scored 12 and senior Madison Anderson added 10 points while pulling down 13 rebounds.

"She was an animal on the boards and rocked it for us all game long," said coach Novak of Anderson's performance vs. Burlington.

Vs. Meeteetse

To put a strangle hold on second place in the Northwest conference the Lady Pioneers needed a win vs. Meeteetse but came up short in a 31-27 loss in Meeteetse.

"I've been waiting all season for us to have a game in which we were flat and this was it," said coach Novak. "We were totally outplayed and (Meeteetse) earned that win. (Meeteetse) played very good defense and they just took us out of our offense."

A slow start in the first half saw the Lady Pioneers score only nine points but again after some halftime adjustments Ten Sleep bounced back by outscoring Meeteetse 9-2 in the third quarter.

"We scored all of nine points in the first half and (Meeteetse) absolutely shut us down. In the second half we had more fire and enthusiasm and in the third we got back into the game. We pulled within two points in the fourth but missed some shots here and there. We just weren't the better team that night and (Meeteetse) deserved that win," said coach Novak.

After the game coach Novak made a point to tell her team the importance of being ready to play from the tipoff.

"We talked about being mentally and emotionally prepared every game. We played well in the second half but that letdown in the first half hurt us. So we just want them to be ready to go from the tip. So far practice has been good this week. They were ready to go and focused, so I believe the message hit home," said coach Novak.

Senior Riley Erickson led the team with seven points and had six rebounds which was tied for the team lead with Anderson. Allison Hampton scored six and Charity Starr added five.

This week's games

Ten Sleep is still in the driver's seat for second place in the Northwest conference and a No. 2-seed for the regional tournament in Lander.

With games against conference rivals Dubois and St. Stephens this week, the Lady Pioneers can secure the No.2-seed with two wins. While coach Novak is aware of her team's scenario, she wants her team to focus on executing this week's game plan and the standings will take care of themselves.

"We haven't talked to the girls about the standings or regional seeding. My assistant Halli (Stocklin) and I have talked about it but we just want the girls to focus on playing their best. We just want to go out and play our best basketball and everything else will fall into place.

Ten Sleep will travel to Dubois on Friday for a 5:30 p.m. game and Saturday they will host No.1-ranked St. Stephens at 4 p.m.

"Dubois is always a tough place to play and they have a good crowd," said coach Novak. "We're chomping at the bit to have another chance to play St. Stephens because we were within eight at the half last time. So if we can clean some things up, we're looking to make that a game all the way through."