Lady Mustangs place second at conference tourney

The Lovell eighth-grade Lady Mustang basketball team concluded a strong season with a second-place finish at the Yellowstone Conference Tournament in Worland Saturday.
Coach Josey Allen’s Mustangs opened the tournament with a 29-16 win over Riverton. The Lady Mustangs forged a 17-10 halftime lead, then held a 19-14 lead after a defense dominated third. Lovell pulled away with a 10-6 fourth quarter advantage.
Avery Walker led a balanced Lovell scoring attack with 9 points, and Ava Edwards added 7 points, Ali Walker 5, Caylee Herman and Addie Weber 4 points apiece.
“Our first game against Riverton was a good one,” Coach Allen said. “Riverton came out firing and attacking, and we had to respond. The girls did well and limited a lot of what Riverton wanted to do offensively in the second half to come away with a good win to start.”
The win advanced the Lady Mustangs to the semifinals, where they edged Cody 28-26 in a nail biter. Lovell trailed 8-6 after the first quarter but outscored Cody 12-5 in the second to lead 18-13 at halftime.
Cody tied the score, 24-24, with an 11-6 third-quarter advantage, but the Lady Mustangs locked down on defense in the fourth to outscore Cody 4-2 and come away with the two-point win.
Jaycie Allen and Edwards scored 7 points each to lead the Lady Mustangs, and Avery Walker added 6 points, Herman and Weber 4 apiece.
“In the semifinals against Cody it was a battle again, though this time our girls had to manage a narrow lead in the final minutes,” Allen said. “They stayed focused and made some great plays on defense to close out our third win of the season against Cody. This was the first game this year that Jaycie led us in scoring, and it was a great time for her to hit some big shots. It’s not easy to beat a team like Cody three times, and this is the first time that has happened in my nine years coaching the Lovell eighth-grade girls.”
Powell beat Lovell 47-33 in the conference championship game. Powell outscored Lovell 16-6 in the first quarter, putting the Lady Mustangs behind the eight ball for the rest of the game. Powell led 25-11 at halftime, and each team scored 22 points in the second half.
Herman and Ali Walker scored 7 points each for Lovell, Edwards 6, Weber 4, Allen 3 and Christina Zollman and Avery Walker 2 apiece. (Two points are missing in the scorebook.)
“Powell has a great team of aggressive and confident girls who know how to get after you on defense and punish your mistakes,” Allen said. “We knew what they were but weren’t able to avoid turnovers early like we needed to in order to make it a close enough game. We competed hard, and there were moments when the girls were tempted to throw in the towel a little bit, but I am proud of how much they learned this season about facing those frustrations and staying committed.”
Allen said the future is bright for the Lovell girls.
“This team had a great season, and they still have a lot of untapped potential,” he said. “I think everyone involved had a positive experience overall and made significant growth.
“I’d like to say a special thank you to Brad McConnell, my assistant, Tera Kostelecky, our volunteer assistant, and Kyra Labounty, our manager. I appreciate all of their time and help this season.”
The Chronicle did not receive a report from the Lovell seventh-grade program regarding their conference tournament in Thermopolis by press time this week.