Bulldog boys headed to State

SHS Bulldogs

The Sundance boys’ basketball team headed to Torrington this past week as the number one seed from the east in the 2A regional tournament. In their first matchup of the weekend, the Bulldogs met the Glenrock Herders.

They continued in their winning way, jumping out with a 20-12 lead after one quarter of play. The Bulldogs had a well-balanced scoring attack, with four players in double digits.

The second quarter continued to build off the first as Sundance put up 23 more points to the Hereders 10, taking a 21-point lead, 43-22, into the half. Sundance continued to dominate the second half of play as they shot 65% from the 2-point field goal range, 45% from behind the arc, and 69% from the free throw line for the night, walking away with the 75-35 victory.

As hot as the Bulldogs were shooting on Thursday night, it unfortunately was not the case on Friday as they faced off against the Southeast Cyclones. The Bulldogs struggled for momentum early in the game.

Down 13-20 after the first quarter of play, the second proved to be fatal for the Bulldogs as they were outscored 20-7 by the Cyclones, resulting in a 40-20 halftime score. While the Bulldogs and the Cyclones had an evenly matched third quarter, Sundance was unable keep their momentum into the fourth and fell to Southeast with a final score of 35-67.

The loss to Southeast put the Bulldogs in a quick turnaround as they had to play in the 10 a.m. consolation play-in game against a familiar foe, the Lusk Tigers. With a state tournament berth on the line, the Bulldogs got out to the early lead and didn’t let up. Controlling the tempo and pace of the game, Sundance took the 65-49 victory.

A victory over Lusk guaranteed the Bulldogs a place in the state tournament; however, they still had to play the number one team from the south, Pine Bluffs, to determine who would be the 3rd and 4th place seeds from the east regional. The Bulldogs took the early lead 17-13 after one quarter, but a rough second quarter put them down 10, 26-36 going into the half.

While the Bulldogs outscore the Hornets by two throughout the second half, it wasn’t enough to overcome the second quarter deficit and they fell 61-69, taking the 4th place seed into the state tournament.

The Sundance Bulldogs will face the number one seed from the west, Rocky Mountain (21-3) in their first game of the state tournament. Coach Olson believes defensively, they match up very well and it could be anyone’s game. The game will tip off at 1:30 at the Natrona County gym in Casper.

Lady Bulldogs

The Sundance Lady Bulldogs season came to a close this past weekend at the regional tournament in Torrington. Going in as the number three seed, the Bulldogs were matched against the Lusk Tigers for the opening round of the tournament.

The Tigers took control of the game early, jumping out to a 17-5 lead after one quarter of play. As the Bulldogs were unable to gain momentum in the first half they found themselves down 10-30 at halftime.

The second half saw a spark in the Bulldogs. Led by Nevada Gill, who single-handedly outscored the Tigers 13-12 in the third quarter, Sundance able to cut the lead to 15 going into the fourth. A good fourth quarter allowed the Bulldogs to cut into the Tiger’s lead even more, but the clock ran out before they could overcome the first half deficit, putting the final score in Lusk’s favor, 51-40.

Game two brought the Sundance Bulldogs up against the Glenrock Herders. The Herders jumped out to an 11-0 lead with things looking dim for the Bulldogs. However, as the first quarter wound down, the Bulldogs were able to close the gap to five, with a score of 6-11.

The Bulldogs were outstanding on both sides of the court throughout the second quarter, outscoring the Herders 14-0, including 9 of 12 from the free throw line, making the halftime score 20-11 in their favor. Sundance continued to build on their momentum throughout the second half.

Cana McInerney led the Bulldogs with a double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down 12 rebounds for the night. Aftyn Marchant also contributed 11 points as the Bulldogs were able to cruise to a 46-25 victory.

A win over the Herders put the Bulldogs in the early morning play-in game as they took on the Southeast Cyclones. With a win here, Sundance would be able to advance to the state tournament. The first quarter of play was evenly matched with the score knotted at 8 apiece. The second and third quarters saw the Cyclones take control of the game, outscoring the Bulldogs 30-9. While the Bulldogs were able to bounce back in the fourth, outscoring the Cyclones by 5, it was too little, too late as they fell 48-32, bringing a close to their 2019-2020 season.

Coach Joni Ellsbury had this to say about their tournament and season: “Having our season end at regionals this year was definitely a heartbreaker. I felt like we continued to grow and mesh towards the end of the season and we had a few players really step up and mature within their roles. Unfortunately, we still struggled a bit with that young inconsistency from game to game. We got knocked down hard our first game of the region tournament, which was unexpected. But the girls handled themselves well and pulled it together to come out firing on all cylinders Friday morning. If we could have kept up that level of play through Saturday, we would be headed to the state tournament. However, we did learn a lot through the season and post season, and each player and our coaching staff know what we need to work hard on in the off-season to hopefully come back next year and rectify some of the losses we suffered this season. Go Bulldogs!”

The Bulldogs finish the season with a 9-15 overall record.

Stats from the games:

SHS Boys vs. Glenrock 75-35

Scoring: Gill 15(2/3 FT, 1/3 3 pt.), Taylor 12 (3/4 FT, 1/3 3 pt.), Martin 11 (3/5 3 pt.), Kruger 11 (1/1 FT, 2/4 3 pt.), McLaughlin 9 (1/2 FT, 0/1 3 pt.), Chandler 7 (1/2 3 pt.), Gillespie 4, Davis 2, L. Rudloff 2 (2/4 FT), J. Rudloff 2 (2/2 FT)

Stat leaders:

Rebounds: Gill 7, Taylor 6

Steals: Taylor 3

Assists: Kruger 7

SHS Boys vs. Southeast 35-67

Scoring: McLaughlin 9 (3/8 FT, 0/2 3 pt.), Gill 8 (0/2 3 pt.) Chandler 5 (3/6 FT), Kurger 5 (2/4 FT, 1/2 3 pt.), Martin 4 (0/4 3 pt.), Davis 2 (2/2 FT), Gillespie 2

Stat leaders:

Rebounds: Gill 5

Steals: Gill 3

SHS Boys vs. Lusk 65-49

Scoring: Gill 14 (8/12 FT, 0/1 3 pt.), Martin 12 (1/1 FT, 1/1 3 pt.), McLaughlin 12 (3/5 FT, 1/1 3 pt.), Taylor 9 (2/4 FT, 1/5 3 pt.)Gillespie 6, J. Rudloff 4, L. Rudloff 3 (3/4 FT), Kruger 3 (3/4 FT), Chandler 2

Stat leaders:

Rebounds: Gill 9, Martin 6

Steals: Taylor 2

Assists: Taylor 6

SHS Boys vs. Pine Bluffs 61-69

Scoring: Taylor 14 (1/3 FT, 1/5 3 pt.), Martin 12 (0/1 FT, 2/4 3 pt.), McLaughlin 12 (6/8 FT), Gillespie 7 (5/6 FT), Kruger 6 (2/2 FT, 0/2 3 pt.), Gill 6 (4/6 FT, 0/4 3 pt.), Chandler 4 (0/1 3 pt.)

Stat leaders:

Rebounds: Mclaughlin 7, Gillespie 5, Chandler 5

Steals: Gillespie 3

Assists: McLaughlin 3, Martin 3

SHS Girls vs. Lusk 40-51

Scoring: Gill 20 (0/2 FT, 4/8 3 pt.), McInerney 9 (2/4 FT, 1/2 3pt), Ba. Hofland 5 (1/2 FT), Marchant 4 (2/5 FT) Heaster 2

Stat Leaders:

Rebounds: Marchant 8, Ba. Hofland 7, McInerney 5

Steals: McInerney 3, Marchant 3

Assists: Marchant 3

SHS Girls vs. Glenrock: 46-25

Scoring: Marchant 11 (5/6 FT), McInerney 11 (3/6 FT, 0/2 3 pt.), Ba Hofland 7 (7/8 FT), Br. Hofland 4 (1/2 FT, 1/1 3 pt.), Heaster 4 (2/2 FT), Pollat 4 (0/1 FT), Gill 3 (1/4 3 pt.), Speidel 1 (1/2 FT), Amann 1 (1/2 FT)

Stat Leaders:

Rebounds: McInerney 12, Ba. Hofland 7

Steals: Gill 4

Assists: Gill 2

SHS Girls vs. Southeast 32-48

Scoring: Ba. Hofland 19 (3/6 FT), McInerney 7 (3/4 FT), Heaster 3 (1/2 FT), Marchant 2 (2/2 FT), Br. Hofland 1 (1/2 FT)

Stat leaders:

Rebounds: Marchant 6

Steals: Ba. Hofland 2, Heaster 2

Assists: McInerney 5