Lady Cats have big weekend

The Hot Springs County High School, Lady Cats basketball team, began conference play last weekend, with an away game on Friday night in Shoshoni, and then back at home, to meet up with Greybull. Playing some of their best ball of the season, the Lady Cats came away with two wins for their efforts.

Coming into the weekend’s contests, the Lady Cats were 5-6 for the year, and sat in third place in the 2A Northwest, just three games back of first place Rocky Mountain. Both of their weekend games were against fellow 2A Northwest teams – meaning, coming away with wins, would go a long way in the conference standings.

In Shoshoni on Friday night, both teams got off to a slow start, with not a lot of points tallying on the scoreboard in the first quarter. Taking a page from the playbook of their brethren, the Lady Cats deployed a withering full-court press against the Lady Wranglers, which proved to be affective – leading to a number of Greybull turn-overs by loose ball control, steals and ten second violations.

Offensively, the Cats worked hard to get the ball into the rim, but found themselves unable to finish, and to put up points. In what might be called a “Goldilocks Affect,” their shots consistently fell either too short, or too hard, and failed to drop for points. Scoring was additionally hampered by ice-cold free throw shooting.

Gaining their first lead of the game in the third quarter (29 to 28), the Lady Cats then ran off a quick fourteen points, to kick off the fourth quarter, and held on for the one point win. The final score was Thermopolis 46, and Shoshoni 45.

Back home on Saturday afternoon, the Lady Cats met up with the Lady Buffs of Greybull. Greybull came into the weekend at just 2-10, but are a better team than their record might indicate. They have a couple of sure-handed three-point shooters, who dropped four from beyond the arc in the first half of Saturday’s game.

The Lady Cats again utilized a smothering defensive press to their advantage, and did a yeoman’s job of supporting one another around the rim, leading to points scored from multiple put-back opportunities. In the second quarter, the challenges for Greybull began to show, just as the Lady Cats began to jell on offense.

Whatever gremlins were lurking in Shoshoni Friday night, had departed the scene on Saturday afternoon, leaving no trace. The Lady Cat’s defense held the Wranglers scoreless through much of the third quarter, while their shooting became crisp and sure from all around the court. At games end, the Lady Cats were up 64 to 33 – taking the win by 31 points.

Commenting on the weekend, Head Coach, Shawna Farrell said, “We struggled a bit on Friday night, but I was very pleased with the way the team came back on Saturday against Greybull. The girls have learned to use the press to their advantage, and that has led to more scoring opportunities for the offense.”

This week Thermopolis will start out at home Thursday night against Wyoming Indian; travel to Cowley to play Rocky Mountain on Friday night; and then be back home for a game against 3A Lovell on Saturday afternoon.