A week full of five games didn’t produce as many victories as the NCHS girls basketball team hoped to get 2017 underway. A trip to the Dogie Dome in 3A Newcastle won’t make many Happy New Years’ lists but NCHS faced the task. The Lady Tigers had cold legs getting off a bus ride as the home team got off to a 12-5 first quarter and had a ten point lead at halftime. A scoring drought after the break was too much to overcome as Newcastle won 46-28.

SCORE BY QUARTERS: NCHS 5 10 3 10  28

NEWCASTLE 12 11 9 14  46

TEAM STATS: NCHS: 10/46 FG, 1/3 3PT, 7/17 FT, 42 REB, 20 PF, 36 TO

NEWCASTLE: 15/42 FG, 1/5 3PT, 15/24 FT, 42 REB, 18 PF, 30 TO

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Miranda Gilkey 11, Amanda Smith 9, Emma Ceaglske 3, Taylor Gaukel 2, Sadie Sturman 2, Ashley Christianson 1. Rebounds- Gaukel 9, Mattie Pfister 8, Smith 5.

NCHS and Tongue River played a spirited defensive game Friday morning at EWC. Lusk led 15-13 at halftime and held a six point lead entering the fourth. The Lady Tiger offense went cold and TR overcame for the 31-30 win. 

SCORE BY QUARTERS: NCHS 11 4 11 4  30

TR 11 2 7 11  31

TEAM STATS: NCHS: 9/35 FG, 1/ 4 3PT, 11/18 FT, 30 REB, 17 PF, 18 TO

TR: 10/41 FG, 1/7 3PT, 10/15 FT, 35 REB, 13 PF, 17 TO

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Gilkey 10, Gaukel 9, Ceaglske 5, Smith 4, Mackenzie Lyons 2. Rebounds- Gilkey 6, Gaukel 5, Smith 5. 

The Lady Tigers met 1A Kaycee later in the day and a fast start gave NCHS a 28-20 halftime lead. Lusk’s defense shut all but one Lady Buc down in extending the lead to 44-27 with just one period left. The Lady Tigers went on to secure their second win of the season with the 54-37 score.

SCORE BY QUARTERS: NCHS 16 12 16 10  54

KAYCEE 6 14 7 10  37

TEAM STATS: NCHS: 22/55 FG, 1/7 3PT, 9/20 FT, 38 REB, 18 PF, 13 TO

KAYCEE: 14/33 FG, 0/1 3PT, 9/15 FT, 26 REB, 13 PF, 18 TO

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Smith 15, Gilkey 14, Gaukel 9, Ceaglske 8, Pfister 2, Kianna Blackburn 2, Sturman 2, Lyons 2. Rebounds- Smith 11, Gaukel 9, Lyons 5. Steals- Ceaglske 6.

The third ranked Lady Rams defeated NCHS by 20 in the third game of the season but Saturday’s game at Willi Gym was much closer. BH led 15-10 after one quarter and was up 29-18 midway through. The defense held BH to just three in cutting the lead to 32-28 after three stanzas, but couldn’t hold up as BH escaped with a 44-38 win. 

SCORE BY QUARTERS: NCHS 10 8 10 10  38

BH 15 14 3 12  44

TEAM STATS: NCHS: 12/37 FG, 1/ 2 3PT, 13/32 FT, 43 REB, 17 PF, 31 TO

BH: 15/46 FG, 2/9 3PT, 12/26 FT, 35 REB, 21 PF, 18 TO

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Gaukel 12, Gilkey 9, Smith 8, Blackburn 3, Christianson 2, Sturman 2, Lyons 2. Rebounds- Smith 16, Gaukel 11. Assists- Pfister 5.

To finish out the busy week a tired and banged up Lady Tiger group faced Shoshoni and were not ready to play. The Lady Blue got out to a 10-3 first quarter lead and 14-11 at the half. Gaukel’s triple near the buzzer kept Lusk that close as turnovers and missed opportunities were numerous. In the second half the Lady Tigers again were a step slow and just 4 of 11 from the free throw line. The final ended up in favor of Shoshoni by the 30-21 count.

SCORE BY QUARTERS:NCHS 3 8 5 5  21

SHOSHONI 10 4 6 10  30

TEAM STATS:NCHS: 7/30 FG, 1/ 4 3PT, 6/21 FT, 28 REB, 15 PF, 20 TO

SHOSHONI: 10/38 FG, 0/1 3PT, 10/23 FT, 36 REB, 17 PF, 14 TO

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Gaukel 12, Ceaglske 3, Pfister 2, Sturman 2, Smith 2. Rebounds- Pfister 7, Smith 7, Gaukel 6.

This week the Lady Tigers visit Lingle Friday for JV at 4 p.m. and varsity at 5:30. On Saturday Burns comes to Lusk for games. The C-squad will play two quarters at 11:30 a.m., followed by the JV. Varsity will tip off at 2:30 p.m. at Tiger Gym.