Bulldog teams face intra-county rivals

Rebecca Maupin | Feb 27, 2020

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SHS Lady Bulldogs

It was intra-county rivalry week as the Lady Bulldogs took on the Lady Wolves of Moorcroft and the Lady Red Devils of Hulett. Friday night the Lady Bulldogs were on the road as they travelled to Moorcroft to face off against the conference-leading Lady Wolves.

A win in this game would put them in a three-way tie for first place, headed into regionals. The Lady Bulldogs had a slow start to open up the game, trailing the Wolves by seven, 23-30, going into the half.

As the third quarter of play opened up the Bulldogs seemed to find their stride, scoring point for point with the Wolves going into the fourth still down by seven. As the final eight minutes of play rolled out the Lady Bulldogs were in foul trouble, repeatedly putting Moorcroft on the line.

As time ticked away, Nevada Gill and Aftyn Marchant ended up on the bench with five fouls while the Lady Wolves continued to sink their free throws, going 11 for 18 in the fourth quarter and taking the 57-45 victory away from the Lady Bulldogs.

On Saturday, Lady Bulldogs rounded out regular season play against another cross-county rival in the Hulett Lady Red Devils. The Bulldogs were the first to strike as Nevada Gill sank one from behind the arc to get the crowd going but the Devils were quick to answer going on a 6-0 run to end the first quarter, 13-12.

The second quarter would be neck and neck as the lead for either team was no more than four points. McKenna Kromarek found the basket with 23 seconds left before halftime, putting the Devils up by two, but Brook Hofland would have the final say as she put another one in for the Bulldogs and sent the teams into the break with a tied ballgame, 25-25.

The second half of play was much like the first, a tight ball game with multiple lead changes. Both teams began to get themselves into foul trouble as the third quarter wound down.

It was Hulett’s Cassie Vitto that was the first to foul out shortly after the start of the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs followed suit, losing Aftyn Marchant and Nevada Gill. Hulett’s Katrina Bauman would round out the disqualifications for fouls as the final three minutes of play were contested with Sundance’s deeper bench being able to pull away for the largest lead of the game, a 50-44 victory.

The Bulldogs finish the regular season with an 8-13 record and will enter the regional tournament as the number three seed. The Lady Bulldogs will play the opening game on Thursday against the Lusk Tigers at 9am in Torrington. The Tigers will be a familiar foe as the Tigers and Bulldogs played on the first of February with the Lusk getting the 38-30 victory.

Rounding out the Bulldogs side of the bracket is the number one seed, Moorcroft Lady Wolves and the number four seed, from the south, Glenrock Lady Herders.

Bulldog Boys

The Sundance Bulldogs rounded out their conference and regular season play facing off against two intra-county rivals, the Moorcroft Wolves and Hulett Red Devils. Hoping to take their five-game winning streak on the road, the Bulldogs travelled to Moorcroft on Friday afternoon.

The Sundance team didn’t miss a beat. Behind the balanced scoring of Landon Martin (15 pts), Brad Kruger (14 pts) and Kye Taylor (13 pts), they were up 46-22 at the half.

The second half saw the score start to even out as the Bulldogs saw significant minutes from the deeper bench. As the Wolves began to cut into the lead, the Bulldogs maintained their cool and walked away with a 69-49 victory.

Saturday ended the regular season play as the Hulett Red Devils were in town for senior night. The Hulett Red Devils got off to a hot start.

With a 3-point barrage from Jhett Letellier and Logan Kromarek, the Devils took a double-digit lead, 24-10 to end the first quarter. The Bulldogs were able to right their ship as the second quarter began. Chipping away at the Devil’s lead, the Bulldogs were able to outscore Hulett 24-13 and bring themselves within three 34-37, going into the halftime break.

The second half of basketball was an evenly matched game. While Letellier and Kromarek continued to pound it in for the Devils, Brad Kruger had the magic touch from behind the arc for the Bulldogs, going six for nine from the three-point line on the night.

As the third quarter wound down, the Bulldogs were matching the Devils three pointer for three pointer and found themselves down by one 54-55 with one quarter of play remaining.

The fourth quarter was down to the wire. The teams continued to trade the lead back and forth with neither team able to get more than two or three points ahead.

The Bulldogs were paced by Kye Taylor who had six points and Brad Kruger with five, down the stretch. Sundance took the 70-68 lead with 2:20 remaining in the fourth quarter. As each team had multiple opportunities to score after that neither were able to connect and the Bulldogs sealed the two-point victory, in their closest game of the season, over the Devils, 70-68.

The Bulldogs are now on a seven-game winning streak finishing their regular season with an 18-3 record. As they head into post season, the Sundance Bulldogs won the coin flip with Big Horn, gaining the #1 seed and will play at 1:30 in Torrington against the number four seed, Glenrock. The other part of the Bulldog’s bracket will pit Southeast against Moorcroft.

Stats from the games:

SHS Boys vs. Moorcroft: 69-49

Scoring: Martin 15 (5/6 FT 2/3 3pt), Kruger 14 (4/7 3pt), Taylor 13 (4/5 FT, ¼ 3pt), Kammerer 6 (0/1 3pt), Gill 5 (1/1 FT), McLaughlin 4, Chandler 4 (0/1 3pt), J. Rudloff 3 (1/2 FT), L. Rudloff 3 (1/2 3pt), Gillespie 2 (2/2 FT)

Stat Leaders:

Rebounds: Chandler 5, Martin 5

Steals: Taylor 2, Kruger 2, Chandler 2

Assists: Taylor 5

SHS Boys vs. Hulett 70-68

Scoring: Kruger 24 (2/2 FT, 6/9 3pt), McLaughlin 14 (0/2 FT, 2/2 3pt), Taylor 11 (3/11 3pt), J. Rudloff 9 (3/4 FT), Martin 7 (1/1 FT, 0/4 3pt), Gillespie 3 (3/4 FT), Chandler 2

Stat Leaders:

Rebounds: Gillespie 11, Martin 7

Steals: Taylor 2

Assists: Martin 5, Kruger 5

SHS Girls vs. Moorcroft: 45-57

Scoring: Gill 13 (3/6 3 pt.), Ba. Hofland 12, McInerney 10 (0/7 3 pt.), Marchant 6 (2/4 FT), Br. Hofland 2 (0/1 3 pt.), Heaster 2 (0/2 FT).

Stat Leaders:

Rebounds: Heaster 6, Marchant 5, McInerney 5

Steals: Br. Hofland 3

Assists: McInerney, 2, Heaster 2, Br. Hofland 2

SHS Girls vs. Hulett: 50-44

Scoring: Ba. Hofland 19 (5/10 FT), Br. Hofland 13 (0/2 FT, 1/1 3 pt.), Gill 11 (2/9 FT, 1/6 3 pt.), McInerney 5 (3/5 FT 0/2 3 pt.), Marchant 2