Lady Bulldogs start year 2-1 at Lander Invite
Hitting the road in Lander for the first games of the season, the Lady Bulldogs and new head coach Brian May won two of three games at the Lander Invitational for a strong start to the new season.
Lovell opened up against Newcastle Friday morning and prevailed 47-34, then fell to powerful Pinedale 72-51. Saturday, the Lady Bulldogs crushed Rawlins 52-17.
“Very positive,” is how May described the opening trio of games. “I thought we moved the ball in transition really well, either scoring or going right into our offense. We utilized our posts – Libby Mickelson, Kennadee Owens and Celeste Lindsay – really well. Our posts are learning to be patient. If they have the opportunity to score, they do, but if they’re defended, they kick it out and re-post.
“Overall, our offense for the first games did fairly well. We kept our spacing pretty good. There’s still a lot of work to be done with our reads in certain situations, but they’re picking it up. I was pretty impressed with how our girls broke Pinedale’s press. In our press-breaker we were able to get some layups on the back end. That gave our girls extra confidence and energy and kept us in the game.
Defensively, we moved our feet well, playing man (defense) and some 1-2-2 full-court press at times.”
As for needed improvement, May said coaches need to make sure players are not passing and standing on offense, which can slow the offense. He said the Lady Bulldogs need to finish shots in the paint, noting, “We’ve got to learn to take some bumps and finish with the basketball. Our outside shooting still needs to improve. When we have open jump shots we need to make the most of them.
Newcastle
After a 9-9 tie in the first quarter, Lovell jumped ahead of Newcastle by winning the second period 16-9, leading 25-18 at halftime.
“We got some easy buckets off turnovers, and when we were in our offensive sets the girls did a good job running our offense,” May said. “The girls’ energy picked up, and we ran our offense pretty well. The kids off the bench provided a spark.”
Lovell led 34-28 after three quarters and pulled away in the fourth with a 13-6 advantage.
Seniors Breeah Jones and Mickelson led a balanced scoring attack with 11 points each, and Owens added 10, Brooklin Clark 7, Lindsay 4 and Kenadee Rael and Becca Nichols 2 each.
Jones led the team with 10 rebounds and four assists, and Mickelson pulled down six rebounds, Lindsay five.
Pinedale
Lovell gave third-ranked Pinedale all the Wranglers wanted Friday afternoon, trailing just 33-29 after a hard-fought first half before Pinedale pulled away by outscoring Lovell 39-22 in the second half to win 72-51.
“I’m really proud of our girls,” May said. “They executed. They broke the press, got offensive rebounds and ran the offense. In the second half our defense slowed and we were late to rotate on plays. It was some fatigue, but they (Pinedale) are good, girls who will knock down shots. If they have some space, they’re going to hit them.”
Jones led four players in double figures with 12 points, and Mickelson scored 11, Rael and Owens 10 each, Nichols and Lindsay 3 apiece, Raegan May 2. Jones led the team with six rebounds and four assists, and Lindsay snared four rebounds. Rael had three steals.
Rawlins
The Lady Bulldogs powered past Rawlins on Saturday, outscoring the Outlaws 15-2 in the first quarter and 12-3 in the second to lead 27-5 at halftime. Lovell won the third quarter 17-7 and the fourth 8-5.
“We pressed them and got some turnovers early,” May said. “We outrebounded them pretty well (33-15). They’ve got young kids, and our maturity helped us, plus the physicality we brought, especially inside.”
Owens led the team with 12 points, and Jones added 8 points, Lindsay 7, Mickelson and Nichols 6 each, May 5, Rael and Clark 4 apiece. Jones, Owens and Clark pulled down five rebounds each, and May finished with six steals. Rael had five assists and five steals.
JVs
The Lovell junior varsity team also won two of three in Lander, beating Newcastle 56-8, falling to Pinedale 50-45 and stopping Rawlins 58-20.
Kaydree Owens scored 15 points against Newcastle, Avery Walker 10, Kindle Collins 9, Ali Walker 7, Kira Collins 6, Clark 4, Hannity Felkins and Caylee Herman 2 each and Kandace Asay 1.
Ali Walker scored 12 points against Pinedale, Clark 9, Owens and Kira Collins 5, Jenna Hessenthaler and Avery Walker 4, Kindle Collins, Felkins and Asay 2 each.
In the finale against Rawlins, Asay poured in 14, and Clark scored 12 points, Kira Collins 8, Kaydree Owens 7, Avery Walker, Herman and Felkins 4, Kindle Collins 2 and Ali Walker, Hessenthaler and Ava Edwards 1 apiece.
“It was a good weekend for the JV,” coach Jen Hessenthaler said. “It was our first weekend playing together as a team, which is a combo of freshmen and sophomores. We beat Newcastle and Rawlins pretty easily, and were able to score over 50 points in each game. We struggled with the pressure and physicality of Pinedale but still were able to score 45 points. We played them our second game on Friday. I’ll be excited to play them again.
“We will continue to work on being patient in our offense and playing as a team. I’m very excited for this group. We have a lot of versatile players.”
Freshmesn
The Lovell freshmen beat Cody in Cody Tuesday night, 39-36. Ali Walker scored 13 points for the Lady Bulldogs, Avery Walker 12, Edwards 8, Herman 4 and Addie Weber 2.
East-West Classic
The Lady Bulldogs will return to Lander for the East-West Classic this week and will be tested, May said, taking on top-ranked Douglas Friday at 2 p.m., 4-0 Wheatland at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and 2-2 Burns Saturday at 1 p.m.
“It’s a competitive tournament,” May said. “We’ll see where we’re at. Douglas is number one, Wheatland has been playing pretty well and Burns has won some games.”