Lady Warriors make it back-to-back 3A East regional titles

BUFFALO - The third time was the charm for the Worland Lady Warriors as they took down rival Douglas High School 56-40 for the 3A East regional championship Saturday night at Buffalo High School.

In their previous two meetings Douglas had won 48-43 and 42-41. In the third outing the Lady Warriors jumped all over the Lady Bearcats with a 19-4 first quarter.

"We got off to a really good start by hitting some outside shots early," said WHS girls basketball coach Ben Hofmann. "After one it was 19-4 and that really helped. Then defensively we were really, really tough."

Defense has been the lifeblood for the Lady Warriors all season. In the 3A East regional tournament they took their defense to another level and in the championship game it was no different.

Douglas is the No. 1 offense in 3A that averages 58.8 points per game. Saturday night in Buffalo the Lady Warriors held that No. 1 offense to 18 points below their average.

"We were really active defensively and I was really impressed. That's a good Douglas squad that's averaging about 60 points a game and we held them to 40. They pulled their starters with two minutes left and they were at 36. I just really felt that we were active defensively and in good help side defense. We didn't allow them to get those backdoor cuts that they really like to get. We made a conscious effort to be in passing lanes and to have good ball pressure and it really paid off," said coach Hofmann.

As arguably the two best teams in 3A coach Hofmann knows games like these are always going to be battles and knew if his team could make some adjustments things would go their way.

"(Douglas) is really good and they got us in the first two games. In our two games neither team was able to get separated. It's probably 50/50 between our two teams. We will lose a couple games to them and we'll beat them in a few. It's a case of we're right there and we just needed to clean up some things," said Hofmann. "We had a lot go right for us Saturday night, we played really well defensively and hit some outside shots that sparked the crowd and fueled our defense."

In total seven Lady Warriors scored. Senior Lyndzi Rich logged a double-double with a team high 17 points, 10 rebounds and five steals. Senior Charlee Townsend chipped in 10 points with three assists and two blocks.

As a team the Lady Warriors tallied 18 steals on the day and that kind of defensive effort is what impresses their coach so much.

"Defense never gets enough credit. We'll look at the scoreboard and see that we scored 56, which is a decent night, but I really feel like holding a team like Douglas to 40 is something. (Douglas) hit two or three 3-pointers and they're a perimeter shooting team. We were so active defensively and everything they got they had to work extremely hard for," said Hoffman. "Mackenzie Cottrell's energy was just outstanding Saturday she really gave us quality effort at the defensive end."

The Lady Warriors have many advantages on the court, one of which is their defensive energy. Each night it can be someone else who brings the energy that fires up the team.

"We have some girls that can really play defense. I'm a defensive guy and I believe it brings a lot of energy to the games. To the girls credit they have really accepted that challenge and bought in. BreAnna Parra and Bailey Gibbons have showed up defensively. Charlee (Townsend) and Lyndzi (Rich) are solid in the middle. We really feed off the defensive intensity and each girl can really get after it," Hofmann said.

The Lady Warriors now head into the 3A State tournament as the No. 1-seed out of the East and in the first-round matchup against the No. 4-seed out of the West, Cody High School.