Lady Warriors set for big game vs. No. 4 Lander

WORLAND - Coming off a dominating week of basketball, the Worland Lady Warriors wrap up their 3A Northwest schedule by getting another shot at the Lander Valley Lady Tigers Friday at 5:30 p.m.

Last week the Lady Warriors (12-4) went 3-0, beating Hot Springs County 61-38 on Feb. 9, Lovell 52-23 on Feb. 12 and Powell 51-24 on Feb. 13.

"Defensively, we played really well. We closed out shooters very well. For Lovell, we took away Rhett Partridge and did a good job of limiting her touches. She got loose in the first quarter then we really limited her touches from then on," said WHS girls basketball coach Ben Hofmann. "We were sprinting in and out of our traps and rotations. I thought our defense looked really good."

With their commanding victories, Hofmann gave his younger bench players some valuable minutes.

"The younger group can play. It's just a matter of getting them varsity experience and used to the speed at the varsity level. The more minutes they can get in games was really nice and good to see. They responded well and played well, and gave a really good effort when they were in there. It's refreshing for all of us," said Hofmann.

Denali Jones led the Lady Warriors in scoring in the Thermopolis and Powell games, scoring 20 points in both games. Jones went 9 for 11 against Thermopolis with nine boards and 10 for 13 against Powell with 11 rebounds.

Hofmann credited the senior for the hard work she's put into practice and her strong moves toward the rim.

"We've been really working with our posts on power moves and taking it strong to the basket. She's really taking it to heart and has really worked at going hard to the basket. She's consistently gotten 10, 15 shots a game, and she shoots around the 50 percent range," said Hofmann. "She did a nice job last week going strong toward the rim, and I think it has paid off because our shooting percentage has gone up."

Darla Hernandez and Brooke Wright led the team in scoring with 15 points each against Lovell.

The Lady Warriors took care of business in all three games, but one area Hofmann wants to improve is their ball movement.

"We still force it too soon into the post. I'd like us to utilize ball movement more and get it going sideline to sideline and really force defenses to defend us on both sides and rotate in and out. That will be key against Lander, who plays good man defense and good help-side. If they're going to do that, we've got to be able to make them move and wear them out. That's what we're working on this week and using the whole floor," said Hofmann.

Only having one game this week, the Lady Warriors host the No. 4-ranked Lander Valley Tigers, according to Wyopreps. Worland played their worst game of the season against Lander on Jan. 28, leading to a 48-29 loss.

Turnovers, 26 of them, hurt Worland the most in that loss to the Lady Tigers.

"We can't turn it over. We turned it over way too many times in that last game. Especially in the backcourt, which led to easy transition points for them. We need to value every possession and utilize that. If you look at the stats, we turned it over 42 percent of the time on our possessions. Obviously, you can't win basketball games doing that. We've got to go through our looks and reads," said Hofmann.

The Lady Warriors are 8-2 in their last 10 games and have flown under the radar, but 3A is tough this season with No. 1 Douglas at the top. The postseason is two weeks out, and Hofmann wants to keep the focus on getting better with each practice and game.

"There are some really good teams in 3A. Douglas is obviously the top team. Then really - Lander is playing good basketball, Lyman is playing well too, and then you have Pinedale and Mountain View. It's going to be a dogfight on that side of the state with Lyman, Mountain View and Pinedale, two will get to go, and one will be left out. There are some good teams, and our goal is to get better each day. If we can do that, we'll take our chances.