Basketball season begins

The Bobcat girls varsity basketball team kicked off their season last weekend with three games on the road, Torrington, Burns and Wheatland, coming home with a 1-2 record.

The Lady Cats lost to Torrington on Friday by a final score of 59-40, but they played a good first half, taking a 25-26 lead going into the locker room.

During the second half, though, shots didn’t fall and the team struggled to take care of the ball.

Mariah Brooks and Kamry Bowman led the way, scoring 12 point each. Julie Johnson and Layne Myers added eight and six points respectively.

Brooks also had a big game on the boards, pulling down 12 rebounds on the night. Bowman had an additional six rebounds along with four assists and four steals to help pace the team.

Friday night the girls took on Burns and topped them 47-43. Coach Matt McPhie said it was a solid win versus a 3A opponent on the road in their gym.

“It was a great defensive display by the Bobcat girls team,” McPhie said. “The team forced a staggering 47 turnovers against the Lady Broncs.”

Defensively, the team was led by Elisa Weber, who collected 11 steals for the game. Bowman added eight more steals and pulled down eight rebounds on the night.

In the scoring department, Johnson led the way with 12 points, followed by Myers with 11 points, including eight for 10 from the free throw line. Myers also hit a big three-pointer late in the fourth quarter to extend the lead.

Bowman added an additional eight points to her stats against Burns.

Saturday, the Lady Cats fell to Wheatland by a final score of 54-45.

“The team had a very poor first quarter, and credit Wheatland for execution en route to scoring 21 first quarter points,” McPhie said. “After that, the team settled down and played a competitive contest.”

Bowman had a career high 20 points, including six three-pointers. She led the way again with four steals.

Brooks had nine points and Sadie Burr added seven for the team.

Johnson and Brooks were on top of the boards, pulling down four each.

“Overall, it was a good weekend of learning and growth,” McPhie said. “We need to improve on some execution components and we need better shot selection at times. I was proud of the way the ladies competed.

“We did some really good things and I believe this team will be very competitive as we make our way through the season.”

This Friday the girls will be at home with the varsity tipping off against Rawlins at 3 p.m. with junior varsity playing at 1 p.m., both at the high school. The freshman play at TMS at 5 p.m.

The girls will be on the road playing Glenrock on Saturday.