Lady Wolves howl into season

On Thursday, the Lady Wolves traveled to Burns to open their season at the Burns Tournament. Their first opponent was Arvada, from Denver, CO.

The Lady Wolves got off to a slow start, but quickly found their stride and took a 38-8 lead into the half. The second half was much of the same thing and the Wolves were able to get their first victory of the season with a final score of 68-18.

We were really excited to start the season and we didn’t shoot it very well from the outside, but that is part of the energy of a new season and first game. We did get it done on the defensive end and our pressure created turnovers that lead to layups. That is really what got us going and allowed us to win the game. 

Friday morning saw the Lady Wolves taking on the Cyclones, from Southeast. The first and second quarters were both back and forth.

Southeast held a slight eight-point advantage going into the half. Southeast was able to pull away in the second half for the 51-34 victory.

We’ve played Southeast quite a few times and we knew going in that their size is what they really utilize. We struggled blocking out and getting rebounds. With a team like that, we needed to be able to limit their second chance opportunities and just weren’t able to be as consistent as we would have liked to have been. 

Friday evening, the Lady Wolves took on the Lingle-Fort Laramie Doggers. Moorcroft jumped out early and they found driving lanes and were able to score layups or penetrate and find open shooters.

The Lady Wolves led 30-12 going into the half and were able to extend the lead in the third quarter before the Doggers rallied in the fourth quarter. However, the Lady Wolves were able to secure the 64-53 victory.

I really thought we did some good things, such as our ball movement, finding open shooters and getting to the basket to name a few things. We need to be better at putting teams away and closing out games in the fourth quarter. 

Moorcroft’s last game on Saturday was against the Douglas Bearcats. The game was back and forth in the first quarter.

Douglas led by four at the start of the second quarter before going on a run and going into the half with a 28-16 lead. Douglas was able to close the game out in the second half for a 70-36 victory.

We always talk in practice or the locker room that we either win or we learn and there were definite takeaways from that game. We did some things really well when we were aggressive but too many turnovers lead to easy baskets for Douglas. 

Overall, I really enjoy going to the Burns Tournament and seeing the teams we get to see. There is a lot of good competition there and, if we want to continue to get better, those are the teams we have to play.

It allows us to see things that we really need to focus on in practice and work on over the Christmas break. We were able to get our younger girls experience at the varsity level and any time we are able to do that, it will only help the team to get better as a whole.

The Lady Wolves return to action on Thursday, December 15, when they take on the Wright Panthers in Wright. Come out and support your Moorcroft Wolves!