The Wyoming Indian Lady Chiefs finished a game short of a dream season in a 61-47 loss to the defending Class 2-A State Champion Lady Eagles of Tongue River. A 3-pointer by Jamie Shoyo-Ferris with 5:21 remaining in the fourth gave the Lady Chiefs their final lead of the game 45-43 in what promised to be a nail-biting finish, but Tongue River rallied with an 18-2 run to end the game.
Tongue River opened the game with a 5-2 lead, but the Lady Chiefs answered with a Taya Dixey jumper, a flip shot by Jamie Shoyo-Ferris and a shot off the glass from Delaney Gambler on 6-0 run that put them in the lead for the firs time with 4:45 remaining in the opening period.
The Lady Eagles tied the score, but Wyoming Indian answered quickly on a Gerilynn Redman pass to Gambler and a Redman follow shot for a 14-10 lead.
Constant lead changes highlighted the second period before the Lady Eagles took a four-point lead into the half.
Trailing 27-23 entering the third period, the Lady Chiefs took the lead 28-27 with 4:51 remaining on a follow by Gambler after a pair of free throws from Shoyo-Ferris.
Freshman Paisley Blackburn hit a 3-pointer and Gambler dominated the paint to hold off the Lady Eagles, but Tongue River began to warm up behind accurate shooting from
Afton Cummins, Chaney Reish, McKinlee Scammon and Paxten Aksamit.
Aksamit hit a jump shot with just a second remaining in the third period for a 39-37 Tongue River lead.
Lady Chiefs – h/t Claudia Ivonne Chavez
Blackburn hit her second trey, and Gambler added a follow shot to lift the Lady Chiefs to a 41-40 lead, but Tongue River was relentless. They retook the lead, with Wyoming Indian’s final surge on Shoyo-Ferris’ 3-pointer.
From 45-43 on, it was all Tongue River. Most teams nurse a lead with their delay game, but the Lady Eagles kept firing away.
They scored on pick-and-rolls, back-cuts and a pair of long 3-pointers from McKinlee Scammon. A layup by Blackburn was the only scoring by the Lady Chiefs in the final five minutes of the game.
Gambler paced the Lady Chiefs with 16 points, hitting eight of her 10 attempts from the floor. Blackburn and Dixey each finished with 10.
Reish had 21 for the Lady Eagles followed by 17 from Cummins and 13 from Scammon.
WYOMING INDIAN 14 9 14 10 – 47
TONGUE RIVER 12 15 13 22 – 61
Wyoming Indian – Gerilynn Redman 1 0-0 2, Taya Dixey 2 (2) 0-0 10, Paisley Blackburn 2 (2) 0-0 10, Jamie Shoyo-Ferris 2 3-6 7, Delaney Gambler 8 0-0 16, Anessa White 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 (4) 3-6 47