Rough week for SHS basketball teams

Sundance Girls vs. Wright: 35-61

The Sundance girls faced persistent powerhouse Wright on the Bulldog's home court Thursday night. The Panthers entered the game with a stifling 10-3 record while the Bulldogs were looking to improve their 6-5 record.

The Panthers started the game off quickly. With a relentless press and many second chance shots, the score was 12-4 before the Bulldogs had a chance to recoup. As the second quarter of play opened, Wright senior, Kindall Seamands went on a 9-0 scoring run to increase their lead.

Bulldog sophomore Sherry Negaard wasn't going to let the Panthers walk away with the game, as she was able to put four more points in the second quarter to get the Lady Bulldogs back on the board making the score 10-26 as the buzzer rang for the break.

With a 16 point deficit to make up after halftime, the Bulldogs threw on a full court press hoping to slow the Panthers down. Coming up with a few steals, the Lady Dawgs were able to chip away at the Panther lead. Unfortunately, the Panthers answered every basket scored by the Dawgs with a basket of their own and their lead continued to increase.

Sherry Negaard led the Lady Bulldogs with 19 points, but it wasn't enough to close the gap. In the end, the relentless press of the Panthers turned out to be too much for the Bulldogs as they took the 61-35 victory.

Stats from the game:

Scoring: Negaard 19 (2/2 FT), M. Gill 8, A. Marchant 2, T. Marchant 2 (0/2 FT), Ba Hofland 2

Rebound leaders: Negaard 5, T. Marchant 3, M. Gill 3

Steal leaders: T. Marchant 2, Pollat 2

Sundance Girls vs. Big Horn: 39-50

There was no rest for the weary as the Lady Bulldogs were back on the court Saturday afternoon facing off against another tough team, the Big Horn Rams. The Rams came into the competition with a 1-0 conference record and were 8-3 overall.

Much like their game Thursday night, the Lady Bulldogs were plagued by turnovers and missed shots to start the game. Courtney Wallach of Big Horn was able to hit back to back threes as the first quarter came to a close and the Bulldogs found themselves down by 10.

The second quarter found the Lady Rams in some foul trouble. Senior Bulldog Madison Gill was able to capitalize on those fouls as she shot 90 percent from the free throw line, going 9 for 10 on the night. Going into the half the Bulldogs were down by 12, 20-32, and looking for some momentum on offense.

As play resumed in the second half both teams struggled to get in the groove of scoring. While the Bulldogs scored 5 of their 9 points from the free throw line, Big Horn was only able to find the basket twice allowing Sundance to close the gap to seven.

The fourth quarter saw a rejuvenation in the Lady Rams press. Sundance struggled to hang on to the ball as turnovers were costly down the stretch for the Bulldogs.

Madison Gill and Sherry Negaard both reached double digits scoring 17 and 14 respectively. This was not enough to take the lead from the Rams and the Bulldogs fell 39-50.

The Bulldogs will continue with conference play as they travel to Moorcroft on Friday. The Moorcroft Wolves come into the game 0-2 in conference play and 10-5 overall.

Stats from the game:

Scoring: M. Gill 17 (9/10 FT), Negaard 14 (4/7 FT), McInerney 2 (2/2 FT), Ba Hofland 2, Heaster 2 (2/2 FT), Pollat 2 (0/1 FT)

Rebound leaders: M. Gill 10, Pollat 7, A. Marchant 5, Negaard 4

Steal leaders: A Marchant 2, M. Gill 2, T. Marchant 2, Negaard 2

Sundance Boys vs. Wright: 56-65

After a close loss to the Hill City Rangers last week, the Bulldogs were looking for a couple of good games against two tough teams, Wright and Big Horn.

The quick moving Panthers came ready to play ball showing the Bulldogs that they weren't afraid to take it to the hole and score. While the score was close in the opening minutes of the game, the Panthers quickly turned up the intensity on their full court pressure making it tough for the Bulldogs to slow things down and find their game. Closing the first quarter with a 19-3 run by the Panthers, the Bulldogs found themselves down 8-25.

The Bulldogs started out the second quarter behind the hot hands and quick feet of Kye Taylor. Coming up with a steal and assist to Lane Gill, the Bulldogs were off and running. The Bulldog defense was also able to slow down the Panther scoring in the paint. With 10 seconds left in the second quarter, Craig Chandler sunk three point shot bringing the score to 24-37 at the half.

Chandler and Hofland found themselves in foul trouble during the second half while the Bulldogs struggled to shut down Wright senior Cody Thompson underneath. On the other end of the court Lane Gill and Kye Taylor stepped up the Bulldog offense scoring from beyond the arc and knocking down their free throws. While the Bulldogs came up short, 56-65, as the final buzzer rang, it wasn't for lack of effort.

Stats from the game:

Scoring: Gill 15 (4/5 FT), Chandler 10 (0/3 FT), Hofland 7 (1/4 FT) , Taylor 7 (3/6 FT), Martin 7 (3/6 FT), Gillespie 4 (2/2 FT), McLaughlin 3 (1/4 FT)

Rebound leaders: Hofland 8, Gill 7, Chandler 6

Steal leaders: Gill 5, Martin 4

Sundance Boys vs. Big Horn: 42-57

The Sundance boys fell to the Big Horn Rams 42-57 on Saturday in Sundance.

It was a slow start offensively for the Bulldogs as the Rams took a quick 9-0 lead behind another intensive press and the scoring of Kade VanDyken. With three minutes left to play in the first quarter and two great press breakers, the Bulldogs were able to right their ship and get on the scoreboard.

The second quarter saw Kye Taylor start to take it to the hole to draw the fouls, becoming very familiar with the free throw line. Shooting an impressive 91 percent from the line (10 for 11), Taylor was able to help the Bulldogs chip away at the deficit. Landon Martin was right behind Taylor adding 14 points on the night. Unable to close the gap, the Bulldogs fell to the Rams 42-57.

The Bulldogs will hope to break their three-game losing streak as they travel to Moorcroft on Friday to face the Wolves.

Stats from the game:

Scoring: Taylor 17 (10/11 FT), Martin 14 (3/4 FT), Gillespie 8, McLaughlin 3 (1/2 FT)