Lady Cats struggle to find rhythm

It was a rough pair of days for the Lady Bobcat basketball team this weekend as they dropped games to Riverton, Lovell and Lander.

Friday’s game against Riverton saw the Lady Cats struggling a bit with a 30-53 loss.

Coach Cory Sova said Riverton simply shot the ball much better and had nine more offensive rebounds. Having 11 shots blocked or at least deflected didn’t help, either.

“It was our worst outing of the year,” Sova said, “and we could get no rhythm or momentum.”

McKenna Bomengen had a solid game with a double/double of 17 points and 11 rebounds along with a pair of blocks. Sova said she played with “high energy and effort.”

Sesi Jensen added four rebounds and four steals to her stats, Hayley McDermott pulled down six rebounds, two assists and two steals and Kaylee DeVries added three rebounds while Ashley McPhie popped in eight points and three rebounds.

Riverton had a nice shooting spree from the three-point line, dropping in 8 of 22 attempts, compared to Thermop’s 3 of 13.

Sova said the girls played better on Saturday against Lovell, but that didn’t stop the 45-65 loss.

“Lovell was unconscious shooting the ball from beyond the mark,” Sova said. “I can’t ever remember a boy’s or girl’s team making 11 out of 15 three point shots. The Lady Bulldogs actually made eight of their first nine three-point attempts.”

In spite of their impressive shooting, the Lady Cats still scored well in the first quarter, ending it down by six. The deficit was 10 midway through the second quarter and that deficit bounced back and forth between seven and 14 points the remainder of the game.

“It seemed whenever we made a little mini-run they would always answer,” Sova said. “Lovell had 30 points with four and a half minutes left in the second quarter, but to our girl’s credit, we buckled down defensively and only allowed 25 points the res of the way.”

Sova said one positive was the girls had fewer turnovers than Lovell, which added extra possession time along with allowing for eight more offensive rebounds.

Overall, the girls shot well, they just couldn’t overcome the three-point barrage.

Bomengen shot well, putting 15 points on the board, coming close to a second double/double with nine rebounds. She also added four steals and two assists to her stats.

McDermott was hot early in the game, making her first four shots and ending the game with 14 points, three rebounds and leading the team in assists with six.

McPhie contributed a solid nine points and four rebounds to add to Sesi Jensen’s five rebounds and three steals.

The score looked a little better against Lander on Saturday, but the Lady Cats still came up short, 43-55.

Sova said it was obvious both teams were tired by the time they got around to playing that afternoon, with both teams shooting poorly in the first quarter. Thermop dropped in one of 13 attempts while Lander shot eight of 15.

After that, the game was fairly even.

“We had good looks at the basket inside and out, but could only buy one hoop,” Sova said. “Ashley (McPhie) was hot in the second quarter and kept up in the game.”

McPhie had five rebounds and added three steals to go with her career varsity high of 16 points.

Sesi Jensen stepped up her game with seven points and 10 rebounds. McDermott added 13 points, five rebounds and two assists. Bomengen also had 10 rebounds and four assists for the game.

“Tahja (Hunt) hit a bit three in the fourth as we made one last run at the Tigers,” Sova said. “She took care of the ball and facilitated a lot of our offensive output.

“We only committed nine turnovers, which is very good for a young team, although Lander put little pressure on us.”

The Lady Bobcat JV team participated in the tournament as well over the weekend, dropping their first game to Riverton, 44-15 before coming back with a nail biter, beating Lovell by a single point, 28-27. They finished their weekend with a loss to Lander, 42-35.

“I was really glad to see the girls improve on their shell and zone defense throughout the weekend,” coach Katie Despain said. “Every game they seem to improve a little more, which makes us, as coaches, happy, knowing they are retaining the knowledge in practice to help them improve as individuals and team members.”

With the Christmas break starting this week, the next action for the Lady Cats will be the Big Horn Basin Tournament in Lovell/Rocky Mountain on Jan. 5-6. All games will be played in Lovell.