by Keith Kelley–13 Mar ’15
The Cheyenne East girls basketball team lost both games to Sheridan during the regular season. But the Lady Thunderbirds picked up wins against the Lady Broncs when they counted. Last week it was in the 4A East Regional semi’s, then tonight (Friday) it was in the state semi’s, as East beat Sheridan for the second game in a row, 51-47 at the Casper Events Center.
For the fourth game, it was a back and forth affair between these two teams. With six lead changes and eight ties, you could tell that they were very familiar with each other. Sheridan opened up a seven point lead late in the second quarter, 20-13. But East would battle back to close to within one at the break, 20-19. The Lady T-birds would pull ahead early in the second half, and take a four point lead, 34-30 into the fourth quarter. That lead would grow to nine, 44-35, late in the fourth quarter, only to see Sheridan go on a 9-0 run, to tie things up. But East would hit free throws down the stretch to hold on to the win.
Sophomore Cosette Stellern had a double-double, with 11 points and 16 rebounds, while senior guard Kayla Evans led the way with 12 points, including 6-6 from the line. The Lady Thunderbirds also did an outstanding job on the Gatorade Player of the Year, Robbi Ryan. They held her to just four points, and forced four turnovers on Ryan.
East heads to the 4A girls title game for the third year in a row, as they will take on Gillette Saturday afternoon at 3:30 pm. That game can be heard on 92.9 FM The Boss, or www.929theboss.com
Gillette girls 56 Cheyenne Central 41 The Central girls basketball team needed a complete effort Friday evening to get into the state championship game. And for a while, it looked as if they were going to make things interesting against Gillette. But in the end, the Lady Camels were too tough for a 56-41 win, as they beat the Lady Indians for the fourth time this year.
It was back and forth early, as Gillette took a 15-14 lead into the second period. Ahead by just three in the second, the Lady Camels would got on a 7-0 run to push the lead to ten, and led by that amount at the half. It was still a ten point game after three quarters, as Central got to as close as seven at one point. But Gillette would pull away in the fourth quarter for the win.
Central senior Emily Evans led the way with 14 points. Sophomore Abby Fearnyhough had ten points and nine rebounds. The Lady Indians play Sheridan in the third place game Saturday morning at 10:30. You can listen to the game on AM 1240 KFBC or kfbcradio.com.
Cheyenne Central boys 51 Sheridan 50 After a heart-breaking loss in the 4A boys quarterfinals, the Central boys basketball came out and played hard to beat Sheridan in the consolation bracket, 51-50.
The Indians got 12 points from Nicholas Fraley and ten from Dontel Ybarra, as they will play in the fifth place game against Evanston Saturday afternoon at 12 pm. You can listen to that game on AM 1240 KFBC, or kfbcradio.com.
Evanston boys 56 Cheyenne East 46 With dreams of a state championship dashed the night before, the East boys basketball team was eliminated from the state tournament by Evanston, after a 56-46 loss.
The Thunderbirds just couldn’t get shots to fall, shooting just 34.7 percent from the field. Senior Zach McCord led the effort with 13 points, while junior Elijah Oliver added ten. The T-birds season ends at 15-10.
