LINGLE – As the calendar creeps closer to tournament time, the Niobrara County High School girls are struggling to find a winning streak. They split their final two road games over the weekend before defeating Guernsey-Sunrise Monday night at Tiger Gym.

Friday evening in Lingle, Lusk took the early lead, but a buzzer-beating layup put the home team up 14-13 at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Tigers used a series of turnovers to start a 12-0 run, and Anna Richardson’s 3-pointer pushed the lead to 28-14. Entering halftime, NCHS led 30-17 and continued to pull away from Lingle-Fort Laramie.

Throughout the third period, Lusk made another run and had bumped the lead to 22 points. Riley Shaw’s trey moved the margin to 45-20 before the final score of 47-28 in favor of NCHS.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

NCHS 13 17 12 5 – 47

LFLHS 14 3 3 8 – 28

TEAM STATS

NCHS: 18/49 FG; 2/13 3PT; 5/15 FT; 41 REB; 13 AST; 16 TO; 17 STL; 21 PF

LFLHS: 5/28 FG; 2/8 3PT; 12/24 FT; 39 REB; 3 AST; 8 STL; 27 TO; 15 PF

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Shaw 12; Richardson 12; Krueger 8; Potter 8; Kottwitz 4; Larson 2; Rowley 1. Rebounds- Richardson 9; Shaw 5; Rowley 5; Krueger 5; Kottwitz 5. Steals- Potter 5.

Traveling to Moorcroft to face the Wyopreps.com Coaches and Media Poll’s top ranked team on Saturday, NCHS was close early. Shaw’s 3-pointer tied the game at seven, and the Lady Tigers trailed by just three after one quarter.

Krueger sank a triple to keep Lusk right with the Lady Wolves, but the sharpshooting home team went on an 11-3 run. A pair of turnovers turned into treys for Moorcroft as they opened up a 28-18 lead at the break.

Coming out of the locker room, the home team’s first two possessions resulted in long range baskets as they quickly doubled up the Lady Tigers 36-18. Krueger halted Moorcroft’s momentum with a steal, layup and free throw, but the Lady Wolves still led by 20 after three quarters. A couple more treys by the home team sealed the 55-31 win, as NCHS fell to 7-7 on the season.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

NCHS 12 6 7 6 – 31

MHS 15 13 17 10 – 55

TEAM STATS

NCHS: 10/27 FG; 2/20 3PT; 5/12 FT; 39 REB; 5 AST; 18 TO; 6 STL; 5 BLK; 15 PF

MHS: 11/27 FG; 7/26 3PT; 12/21 FT; 36 REB; 9 AST; 7 STL; 14 TO; 14 PF

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Krueger 10; Rowley 7; Shaw 6; Richardson 6; Kottwitz 2. Rebounds- Richardson 10; Kottwitz 6.

Monday night in Guernsey, NCHS completely overwhelmed Guernsey-Sunrise as Danni Larson and Bryn Bruch each sank 3-pointers for a quick 6-0 lead. After one period the score was 14-2 and by halftime it was 29-6 for the Lady Tigers.

NCHS used a 19-0 run in the third period to set the running clock in motion and the JV finished up the 51-9 win.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

GSHS 2 4 0 3 – 9

NCHS 14 15 19 3 – 51

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Larson 10; Shaw 9; Bruch 7; Rowley 6; Richardson 6; Krueger 4; Potter 4; DesEnfants 3; Allbright 2.

The junior varsity team lost 36-10 to L-FL in two quarters but rebounded to beat Moorcroft 46-44.

This week the Lady Tigers host Glenrock (3:15 and 5:30 p.m.) on Friday before Southeast (noon and 2:30 p.m.) visits on Saturday.