Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Burlington wins their fifth 1A state championship in eight seasons
Husky Dallin Davidson erases the shot of a Snake River player during the 1A boys championship game Saturday night at the Casper Events Center. The Huskies won 66-43 for their fourth-straight championship.
CASPER - Four-straight championships for the Burlington Huskies.
Four. Straight. Championships.
Saturday night at the Casper Events Center the Burlington boys basketball team made history with their fourth-straight championship in a 66-43 win over the Little Snake River Rattlers in the 1A boys state championship game.
"I'm really proud of all of them," said BHS boys basketball coach Matt Davidson. "I'm really proud of Dallin (Davidson), he played through the stomach flu and just got out of bed at 5:30 p.m. for the first time (Saturday). Everyone worked as a team and they believed. They're gotten better all season long and they wanted to keep the tradition going."
The Huskies championship streak is the second longest in Wyoming boys basketball history, Gillette strung together six straight from 1992-97.
From the tip the Huskies (19-7 overall, 8-0 1A Northwest conference) forced their will and made Snake River play their game. In the first quarter the Huskies used quick and unselfish ball movement to keep the Rattler defense on their heels. Dallin Davidson benefitted from quick reversals, often getting one-on-one matchups down low as he would score six of his team's 15 points in the quarter.
While the Huskies offense continued to play unselfishly, the key to their fourth-straight championship, like it has been all season, was defense and rebounding.
"That was our goal. Stifle (Snake River) with our defense and control the boards. I thought we did great on both aspects," said coach Davidson.
Defensively, the Huskies put on a clinic. The Huskies length was able to force turnovers, deflect and alter shots or heavily contest Snake River on their shot attempts. Then when Snake River could get a shot up it was one-and-done and the Huskies were off in transition. The Huskies outrebounded the Rattlers 41-31
Each time the Rattlers crept back into the game, Burlington would put the clamps on defensively and eviscerate any hopes of a comeback. It started in the first half when Snake River was within two, 6-4, early in the first quarter. The Huskies then went on a 26-5 run to go up 30-9 with three minutes remaining in the second quarter.
The Rattlers slowly chipped away at the lead and early in the fourth quarter were within 10 at 43-33. Now at the closest margin they've been since the early part of the game, the Snake River crowd began to come alive.
As for the Huskies, they were calm, cool and collected, exactly what you would expect from a defending three-time champ. Having taken Snake River's best punch the Huskies responded by putting their defense to another gear.
The Burlington defense was flying all over the place deflecting passes, closing out on shooters and, on the off chance a Rattler attacked the interior, the help defense was there to deny any easy looks.
On the offensive end Husky guard Torey Wardell hit a 3-pointer which started a 13-0 run, securing the Huskies fifth title in eight seasons.
Leading the way for the Huskies was Davidson who had 19 points, on 7 of 8 shooting, and five rebounds on the night. Dallin Christiansen added 18 points and nine rebounds. Dontae Garza came off the bench to chip in 11 points, who received the start in the second half after starter Matthew Rasmussen had a nagging injury crop up.
During their state tournament run the Huskies have had an average margin of victory of 20.33 points. In the quarterfinals they beat Hannah-Elk Mountain 63-41 and in the semifinals they defeated Farson-Eden 53-37.
Since taking the helm of Burlington boys basketball eight seasons ago, and collecting a fifth title in that span, coach Davidson was quick to praise and give all the credit to his players.
"It means that I have great kids to coach and I couldn't ask for a better group of boys," said coach Davidson when asked about winning five titles in eight seasons.
Every championship team has an identity or characteristic that fuels their run and for this Huskies team it was the "we before me" mentality.
"Unselfishness," said Davidson when asked about the defining characteristic of his team. "They're always happy for each other and are looking for the guy that is on. The whole season they've been unselfish."
With their fourth-straight championship, and 11th in school history, in the books, next season's Huskies will look to keep the streak alive. For the young players stepping up to fill the void left by the seniors, they know what it takes to get to the top of the mountain.
"That's how the tradition keeps going," said Davidson about how the unselfish play resonates with the younger players, "Someone is ready to step in and help the team in any way they can."
