Girls lose to Lander, Big Piney

It was something of a hard weekend for the freshman/sophomore girls basketball team as they dropped a game to Lander on Friday, 31-25.

The team was just two points behind at the half, but they were out-shot in the third quarter, which really hurt.

Coach Katie Despain said the girls struggled to find their rhythm as a team.

"Daily we have and will continue to work in practice to improve their skills," she said. "They all have a lot of potential."

Elisa Weber led the team with nine points against Lander, followed by Dayna Sandburg with five, Reagan Severance and Hailie Weber with four each and Oakley Bowman with two.

The JV team had a rough time, too, also losing to Lander, 41-36.

At the half, the team was down by nine points and the girls came out after the half, allowing Lander to score another 17 points during the third quarter while only scoring five themselves.

Things turned around in the fourth quarter and coach Despain said the girls really started to pick it up, out scoring Lander by 10 points.

"Although the 10 points wasn't enough to get us out of the hole to win," Despain said, "I was impressed by the way they stepped up and played tough to finish the game.

"I am glad to be constantly seeing little things improve every game. That is what we look for in the girls, constant improvement."

Aspen Jensen was first in line in scoring with nine points, followed by Hailie Weber with eight. Jazmen Jensen and Emme Norsworthy added six points each to the score and Sandburg, Jasmine Collins and Severance each put in two. Elisa Weber added to the board with one from the free-throw line.

The JV team played Big Piney next, losing 42-31.

Down at the half by just a single point, Despain said the girls were playing well.

However, the third quarter snuck up on them once again and they allowed 14 points to their own three.

They livened up a bit in the fourth quarter and outscored Big Piney 13-12.

"A big thing I have been emphasizing with the girls is continuing to hustle and play hard consistently throughout the whole game, not just quarters," Despain said. "I know when they get that down we will see a lot of improvement in our scores for the girls. I look forward to watching them play against Worland this week."

Aspen Jensen again topped the scoring for the JV team with seven, Dani Jo Pebbles, Elisa Weber and Jazmen Jensen each dropped in six, Severance had three points, Audrey Axtell had two and Collins hit one from the free-throw line.