2A Girls State Basketball Day 1 Recaps

The first day of the Class 2A girls' basketball state championship features six games in Casper.

WyoPreps is doing brief summaries of the games throughout the first day on the action at Casper College and the Ford Wyoming Center.

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Game 5: Wyoming Indian 46 Sundance 38 (semifinal #1)

The Lady Chiefs will have a shot at a third 2A girls state championship in a row after holding off Sundance 46-38 in the semifinals Friday night in Casper.

Wyoming Indian jumped out to a 15-8 lead after the first quarter. The Lady Chiefs maintained their advantage at halftime, up 24-19. Aftyn Marchant knocked won back-to-back 3-pointers that pulled Sundance within 28-25 early in the third quarter. The Bulldogs got within two, at 34-32 at the end of the frame, but couldn't ever take the lead back. The Lady Chiefs pulled the ball out on offense to run the clock and made enough free throws and baskets to hold off Sundance.

Angela Astorga scored a game-high 16 points to lead three Wyoming Indian players in double figures. The Lady Chiefs shot 39 percent from the floor.

Sundance was led by Sherry Negaard with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Bulldogs shot only 30 percent from the field. They had a 39-33 edge in rebounding but also had 18 turnovers.

Wyoming Indian will play in the 2A championship at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Ford Wyoming Center.

Game 6: Rocky Mountain 44 Lusk 39 (semifinal #2)

The Rocky Mountain Grizzlies will make their first championship game appearance in girls' basketball since 2000 after a hard-fought 44-39 victory over Lusk in the semifinals on Friday night in Casper.

The game featured 11 lead changes and was tied seven times. The biggest lead for either team was five points, and that was by Lusk in the first quarter.

The back-and-forth affair saw the Tigers hold an 11-8 edge after the first. The Grizzlies came back behind Victoria Arnold in the second quarter. Rocky Mountain had a 21-20 lead at halftime. Arnold scored 11 points in the first half.

Lusk answered back in the third with 13 points and pulled ahead 33-31 entering the final frame.

The Grizzlies surged in front at 38-34 only to see the Tigers tie it with 2:11 remaining. Five free throws in the final 1:18 for Rocky Mountain pushed them over the top.

Arnold led the Grizzlies with a game-high 15 points. Rocky Mountain shot 41.5 percent and had 12 steals.

Lusk was led by Lily Krueger with 11 points. The Tigers shot only 32 percent from the floor. They did have a 38-26 advantage in rebounding.

Rocky Mountain will play two-time defending champion Wyoming Indian in the 2A girls' title game at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. The two played last Saturday, Feb. 27 in the 2A West Regional Final. Wyoming Indian won 41-38 in Riverton.

Lusk will play Sundance for third place on Saturday at noon in Casper.

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Game 1: Sundance 47 Shoshoni 40 - OT

Sundance needed overtime to beat Shoshoni, 47-40, at Casper College Friday morning to advance to the 2A girls' semifinals.

The Bulldogs outscored the Lady Blue, 10-3 in the extra period.

Sundance trailed by seven in the third quarter, 29-22. They hit a 3-pointer near the end of the period, which started a 10-0 run. After Sherry Negaard made a free throw with 12.6 seconds left, Shoshoni's Cheyenne Thompson rebounded her own miss and scored off the glass just before the buzzer to force OT.

Bailey Hofland scored to give the Lady Blue the lead in OT, but it was all Bulldogs after that, as they outscored Shoshoni 10-1 for the seven-point victory.

Bailee Heaster led Sundance with 12 points, while Negaard added 11. The Bulldogs shot 35 percent in the game and went 16-24 (67%) at the free-throw line.

Thompson finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds to pace Shoshoni. Cloe Ramsey also had 14 points. The Lady Blue shot 32.5 percent from the field. They went just 13-27 at the charity stripe.

Sundance moves onto the semis versus two-time defending champion Wyoming Indian at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

Game 2: Wyoming Indian 53 Pine Bluffs 45

The two-time defending champion Wyoming Indian Lady Chiefs opened the state tournament with an eight-point win over Pine Bluffs to move onto the semifinals later on Friday.

Wyoming Indian jumped out to a 17-2 lead after the first quarter. Pine Bluffs found more offense in the second period, but the Lady Chiefs had a 34-15 lead at the break. Wyoming Indian's lead reached 29 points in the second half before a fourth-quarter surge by the Hornets. Pine Bluffs scored 23 points in the final frame and held Wyoming Indian to five, but the Hornets ran out of time.

The Lady Chiefs big three of Jaden Ferris, Sandie Friday, and Angela Astorga all scored 14 points apiece. They shot 42 percent in the game, 52 percent in the first half.

Jaden Shelit led Pine Bluffs with 13 points. The Hornets had a 49-36 edge on the glass.

The two teams combined for 47 turnovers.

Wyoming Indian advances to play Sundance in a semifinal game at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

Game 3: Rocky Mountain 47 Moorcroft 40

The Grizzlies put together a fourth-quarter comeback and beat the Moorcroft Wolves, 47-40, to advance to the 2A semifinals on Friday in Casper.

Rocky Mountain built a 10-point lead by halftime, 26-16, thanks to 45 percent shooting and a cold Moorcroft team. The Wolves shot only 22 percent in the second half. They came back with a strong third quarter and had a 33-31 lead entering the final frame. The Grizzlies regrouped and outscored Moorcroft 16-7 in the final period for the seven-point win. Rocky Mountain went 10-12 at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to seal it.

Josey Steed scored 12 points, and Kiara Jolley added 11 for the Grizzlies.

Moorcroft was led by Talissa Fischbach with 13 points. The Wolves made nine 3-pointers but shot just 28 percent from the field.

The Grizzlies advance to play Lusk in the semifinals at 6 p.m. in Casper.

Game 4: Lusk 42 Big Piney 33

After a bit of a slow start, the Lusk Tigers held off Big Piney, 42-33, to reach the semifinals of the 2A girls' state basketball tournament.

Lusk scored only six points in the first quarter but got on track in the second. They took the lead for good with a 16-5 period and led 22-14 at the break. The lead grew to a dozen in the third for the Tigers before Big Piney rallied. The Punchers closed within three in the fourth, but Lusk went 4-4 inside the final minute at the free-throw line to preserve the victory.

Abby Kowitz scored 12 points to lead Lusk. They shot 35 percent in for the game.

Big Piney got 11 points from Cassidy Espenscheid, but the Punchers managed only 27 percent shooting from the field. They also had 19 turnovers and went 11-23 at the foul line.

Lusk will face Rocky Mountain in the semifinals at 6 p.m. on Friday.