Lady Cats finish regular season with a sweep

Fans of Lady Cats basketball have had a lot to cheer about lately. A weekend ago, the Lady Bobcats put up 77 points against Shoshoni, followed by 68 points against Greybull, to kick of the final round of in-conference games in the 2A Northwest.

Last weekend, the Hot Springs County High School Lady Cats basketball team finished up the regular season with wins over in-conference rival, Rocky Mountain, and over the 2A Southwest Lady Cougars of Wind River. And with that, the Lady Cats are on to the regional tournament, which will be held this week in Riverton.

Coming into the weekend, the Lady Cats stood at 5 -1 in their conference, with their only loss being to Rocky Mountain in Cowley. A win over Wind River on Thursday night left the Lady Cats just one game back of Rocky Mountain in the 2A Northwest.

In a contest which was never in doubt, the Lady Cats had the lead against Wind River at every quarter of the game. Indeed, Thermopolis put up 25 points in the first quarter, while holding the Lady Cougars to just 3 points.

Although Wind River managed to cut the Lady Cats’ lead in half in the third quarter, the Ladies never blinked – building back their lead, and finishing the game up by a score of 59-36. In the game, the entertaining Lady Cats had 35 rebounds, together with 15 assists, and a remarkable 19 steals.

While the Lady Cats have more than handled the Lady Cougars this year, Thermopolis will see Wind River again in the regional tournament, and will have to be on their toes, as the Lady Cougars will, no doubt, be looking to play the spoiler to the Lady Cats successful season.

On Friday night, Rocky Mountain came into town seeking to cement their first place, and third

ranked, status in the 2A Northwest Quad. They would need either a win, or a loss by less than ten points to accomplish their goal. The Lady Cats began the night ranked fourth among 2A squads.

The game was, obviously, pivotal to seeding for the regionals, and thus, the gym in Thermopolis was fully loaded with fans for both teams. Word around the visitor’s section was that some teams are not too pleased to see the outstanding Lady Cats team playing in 2A this year. Which might lead one to conclude that there are 3A teams, who are happy to see the Lady Cats have departed that conference.

The game was a back-and-forth affair in the first half – with the Lady Cats defense playing exceptionally strong, while their passing offense was both crisp and accurate. The team struggled, however, to get the ball to drop into the net, and that allowed the Lady Grizz to keep the score close. Senior Hanna Hill hit a buzzer beating three-point shot to put the Lady Cats up by just one at the half.

In the second half, the Lady Cats had extended their lead to as much as nine points, however, the Lady Grizz played determinedly, and by games end, the Lady Cats had won by five points (44-39). Enough to pull into a tie for first place in the 2A Northwest, but not enough to beat the tie-breaker, and thus, Rocky Mountain will go into the regionals with the number one seed for the northwest. Even so, the Lady Cats can boast that they beat the third-ranked team.

The Lady Cats will play on Thursday, February 27 against Wind River. The game will be at Riverton Middle School, at 3:30 pm.