Bulldogs drop finale but ready for Regionals

The final game of the season didn’t really matter in the standings when the Lovell Bulldogs played their final game of the regular season at Powell Thursday night. A win wouldn’t have advanced the Bulldogs to first place, and a loss wouldn’t have left the Bulldogs in third.

A win would have been nice, but more than that, coach Shane Durtsche said, the Bulldogs could have battled the top-ranked Panthers a bit better in a 47-36 loss.

“We missed too many close shots – good shots – and free throws,” he said, noting that the Bulldogs hit 11 of 19 attempts at the foul line. “I liked the shots we got, but they ‘out-physicalled’ us. Their physicality was a problem. Turnovers were a problem, too. (Lovell had 18.)”

Durtsche said his team was solid defensively and gave up points mostly on miscues.

“They struggled to score on us in the half court,” he said, “but they got a few easy ones on turnovers. I thought our defense was pretty good. We’ve just got to take care of the ball.”

The Bulldogs matched Powell 10-10 in the first quarter as sophomore center Owen Walker scored 6 points. But Powell doubled up the Bulldogs 14-7 in the second to lead 24-17 at halftime.

“We had some unforced turnovers and missed some shots,” Durtsche said. “Now we’re down seven, and against a team like that, when you’re down seven, it feels like 12.”

Powell won the third 14-6 to lead 38-23 at the final quarter break.

The Bulldogs powered back in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to eight before Powell pulled away to win by 11.

“We started to play with some urgency,” Durtsche said, “but we’ve got to do that from the beginning. We were playing downhill and being aggressive. We played with confidence and finished some shots. Our pressure affected them a little bit.

“I was proud of our fight. We cut that thing to (eight). We didn’t go away and had chances to get closer.”

Down by 15, the Bulldogs started the fourth quarter with an 8-2 run to cut the margin to nine, 40-31, as Davin Crosby hit two free throws and powered inside for two on an assist from Parker Anderson, and Walker scored two baskets on passes from Robert Romero and Kaeson Anderson.

After Powell scored, Walker drained a three-pointer to trim the deficit to eight, 42-34, with four minutes to play. Unfortunately, that would be the last basket the Bulldogs would make, and though they hit two free throws, they missed four in the final three minutes and missed a couple of drives at the rim to allow Powell to win by 11.

“That’s a good basketball team,” Durtsche said. “They’re 20-0 for a reason. I was pleased with the fourth quarter. We were able to fight and didn’t run away and hide.”

Walker led the Bulldogs with 14 points, and Crosby added 11, Parker Anderson 7, Matthew Newman and Kaeson Anderson 2 each. Walker snared seven rebounds, and Newman and Romero had three assists each.

JVs

Powell won the junior varsity game, as well, 54-50, jumping out to a 19-4 lead after the first quarter. Lovell battled back to outscore the home team 21-7 in the second to trail 26-25 at halftime, and Powell edged Lovell 28-25 in the second half to win by four.

Kaeson Anderson led the Bulldogs with 13 points, and Owen Edwards scored 11, Braxton Felkins 9, James Blau 6, Brody Muller and Kyle Wilson 4 each, Romero 3.

Regional tournament

The Bulldogs will open the 3A West Regional Tournament in Thermopolis tonight (Thursday) at 8:30 against the Mountain View Buffaloes (8-13), the number three seed from the Southeast 3A.

The Bulldogs (17-6) have beaten Mountain View twice this season, winning 62-43 at the early Bridger Valley Tournament and 49-36 February 16 in Lovell.

“As a coach you never want to be overconfident,” Durtsche said. “We’ve played these guys twice. They’re scrappy, and anybody can beat anybody at Regionals. I like our draw.

“They’re going to play hard and scrap and get after you. So my team had better do that, too. At this point it’s so much about toughness and fortitude. You’d better be able to fight and grind.”

If the Bulldogs win, they will meet the winner of the Pinedale-Thermopolis game at 8:30 p.m. Friday. Lovell beat Pinedale (12-7) 62-53 on February 2 in Pinedale and have defeated conference opponent Thermop (10-11) twice, 44-41 and 45-28.

A first-round loss to Mountain View would drop the Bulldogs into a loser-out game at 1:30 p.m. Friday.

If the Bulldogs win two straight, they will play in the championship game Saturday at 5:30 p.m.