Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Postseason march begins for No. 2 Lady Buffs
WORLAND - The postseason for Wyoming 1A and 2A basketball teams is underway today as teams battle it out to qualify for the state tournament next week. The 1A West boys and girls regional tournament will be in Lander while Riverton hosts the 2A West boys and girls regional tournament.
Two top-ranked Big Horn Basin teams, the No. 1 Burlington Huskies and No. 2 Greybull Lady Buffs, start their respective tournaments as the No. 1-seeds and have the inside track to extend their season one more week.
BURLINGTON HUSKIES
As the No. 1-ranked 1A boys team all season the Huskies finished their season in convincing fashion with wins against then No. 3 St. Stephens, 86-57, and Ten Sleep, 78-27.
Having not lost to a single 1A school this season the Huskies go into the 1A West regional as the No. 1-seed out of the Northwest. They open the tournament against the No. 4-seed out of the Southwest, Little Snake River, in a matchup of last season's 1A state championship game.
In order for the Huskies to make a run at their fifth consecutive state championship, they will need to dispatch Snake River and either Meeteetse or Saratoga to, at the very least, qualify for the state tournament.
To get to state Burlington will rely on their top-ranked defense that holds teams to 41.8 points per game on 31 percent shooting. Offensively, the Huskies are fifth in the state at 66.6 points per game and have the best average margin of victory at 24.9 points per game. More impressive about the Burlington Husky offense is that they do not have a single top 10 scorer but do have three players averaging double digits, Torey Wardell 15.3, Dallin Davidson 15.2 and Dontae Garza 13.5.
The Huskies tipoff vs. the Rattlers at 5:20 p.m. today.
GREYBULL LADY BUFFS
The 2A West girls basketball regional tournament could shape up to be a slugfest, as three (Greybull, Rocky Mountain, Lovell) of the top five ranked teams are among the field. The No. 2-ranked Lady Buffs earned the No. 1-seed out of the Northwest and matchup against the No. 4-seed out of the Southwest, the Kemmerer Lady Rangers.
If the Lady Buffs are able to defeat Kemmerer they face the winner of the Lovell/Big Piney game. While they have yet to see Big Piney this season, they are familiar with Lovell, who is a Northwest rival. In their two contests this year Greybull bested Lovell in both, first on Jan. 19, 45-36, then again on Feb. 8, 38-33.
Offensively, the Lady Buffs numbers do not jump off the sheet. They have 2A's eighth-ranked offense scoring 44.4 points per game; shoot 33 percent from the field which ranks fifth in the state; and have the fifth best average margin of victory 10.3 per game.
But where Greybull excels, and which is the heart and soul of their team, is playing stingy defense. They have the 2A's second-best defense holding teams to 34.1 points per game. On average opponents shoot 31.5 percent from the field against them, they lead the state in steals at 16.1 per game and force teams into committing 25.2 turnovers per game, fourth best in the state.
If Greybull is going to advance to the state tournament this weekend, it will be because of their defense.
The Lady Buffs tipoff vs. the Lady Rangers at 2:30 p.m. today.
