(Shoshoni, WY) – The Lady Blue took an early lead and never looked back, pulling away from rival Wind River to 57-35 final Tuesday night in Shoshoni.
Shoshoni built a 39-10 lead at the half behind full-court pressure that limited the Lady Cougars to just three shots in the opening period. Their pressure was relentless. When it didn’t produce steals, it forced turnovers.
Shoshoni head coach Ryan Gilbertson has a short team this season, but they block out well and compensate with solid defense. They out-rebounded the much taller Lady Cougars throughout the opening half.
When Wind River was able to get the ball past the half-court line, they were limited to just one shot on almost every possession.
With a substantial lead, Gilbertson emptied his bench in the second half, giving his younger girls ample varsity experience.
Shoshoni had a balanced offense with five girls scoring eight or more points, led by Natalie Gilbertson with 16, including a pair of 3-pointers. Kaylor McConnaughey and Mayce Jarvis each scored 10, while Brenna Metzler and Addi Mason tallied eight each.
Wind River was led by freshman Morning Sky Littleshield with a game-high 20 points.
Shoshoni was opportunistic on offense, working the ball around the perimeter before taking high-percentage midrange jump shots. They added layups off of Lady Cougar turnovers in the opening half with the varsity unit in the game.
Shoshoni travels to Basin today for a game with Riverside while Wind River is at Cowley in the Big Horn Basin Classic.
The Lady Cougars play host to Rocky Mountain at 3 pm on Friday, then Class 3-A Worland at 6.
SHOSHONI 18 21 7 11 – 57
WIND RIVER 5 5 9 16 – 35
Shoshoni – Brenna Metzler 3 2-2 8, Kaylor McConnaughey (1) 7-12 10, Addi Mason 2 (1) 0-2 10, S. Frank 1 0-0 2, Memphis Dolcater 1 1-2 3, Maddi Marshall 0-2 0, Natalie Gilbertsen 4 (2) 2-4 16, Eckley Winfield 0-6 0. Totals 16 (4) 13-32 57
Wind River – Emery Nicholas 1 0-0 2, Natoya Shoyo 2 0-0 4, Alaina Murray 2-6 2, Tanayah Burnett 1 (1) 0-0 5, Morning Sky Littleshield 6 (1) 5-7 20, Devyn Fillin 1 0-1 2. Totals 11 (2) 7-14 35