Lady Cats win all four at ShoOpolis

The Lady Cat's defended the home ground winning all four games during the ShoOpolis tournament, a shared tournament between Thermopolis and Shoshoni. They played Upton, Rocky Mountain, Cokeville and Little Snake River during the tourney.

"We did a great job defensively holding Upton to 10 points through three quarters," said Coach Cory Sova. Thermopolis beat Upton 41-20 with a true team effort from all the girls.

Randi Elisson led the team with six rebounds. Ashlyn Weber and Jessica Schierkolk assisted three times each allowing the team to score. Jules Ward stole the ball four times from Upton.

"We turned the ball over too many times which we need to clean up but caused Upton to have 30 turnovers. We also gave up 12 offensive rebounds which is too many," said Sova.

Smoking Rocky Mountain 48-30, the girls took the lead and held it until the end.

Rocky Mountain started to catch up halfway through but the Lady Cats fought them off and took the win.

"Another good team defensive effort in the first half but we didn't continue this through the third and fourth quarters," Sova said.

Rocky Mountain had an ace in the hole "We had a hard time containing Marissa Arnold as she had 19 points, 12 from the stripe," Sova said.

Improving on free throws, the girls made 8 shots out of 10 against Rocky Mountain. Weber grabbed 8 rebounds, 7 of them defensively and scored 8 times. Korey Smith netted 12 points, 8 of them from rebounds. Schierkolk and Jules Ward each had 3 assists.

"As Rocky is a conference foe, hopefully we learned a few things that will help us later in the year," said Sova.

The Lady Cats had a close game against Cokeville taking it by three points, 37-34.

"Cokeville is a very good 1A school - they have strong, athletic kids and are very well coached. They are fundamentally sound but we really got after them on defense and they had 23 turnovers," Sova explained.

Continuing to shoot well from the line the girls had 13 out of 15 against Cookville. Haley McDermott was 6/6 knocking down 2 clutch ones late in the game. Makayla George was a force scoring in each quarter. Ward led the Cats with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Lizzy Lofink is the Bobcat's verbal leader on the floor. Her intensity and communication keeps driving the defense.

"Both teams had a hard time scoring down the stretch. We learned a lot about ourselves during this contest," Sova said.

Another close game for the Lady Cats came against Little Snake River with Thermopolis winning 48-45.

"Little Snake River will be on the awards stand in Casper during the state tourney. They are athletic and quick," said Sova. Little Snake River player Karley Moon proved to be a key opposition with 30 points earlier in the tournament and then held 18 against us. 

The Cats continue to prove how well they can shoot from the line with a solid 9/13 against Little Snake River. Elisson led the Lady Cats with 5/6. The girls also knocked down 5/12 3 pointers.

"We had been struggling with our shooting so this was very good news," Sova reported. Smith added 4 rebounds to her 10 point effort. Elisson is really beginning to step up and had 8 points and 8 rebounds, nearly a double-double. Ward shot the ball well and also had 4 rebounds. "Her relentless pressure on defensive lifts us every game, she never takes a play off," said Sova.

Weber struggled this game shooting but stayed with it and put in 8 huge points to also propel the Lady Cats offensively. "We only had 11 turnovers and moved the ball well against some very good athletes. We do need to work on getting the ball inside a little better," said Sova.

The Cats are off until they play in the Big Horn Basin Tournaments on January 8 and 9. The schedule is still being finalized but the Lady Cats will get at least 3 varsity games and 2 junior varsity games.

The girls will take a few days off and then get back after it following Christmas.

"Our goal is to make sure and push to get better every day. We will need to do this to be able to compete with the elite teams in the state," said Sova about upcoming games.