LUSK –  After a sound win over Lingle-Fort Laramie on Friday, the Niobrara County High School basketball girls turned around and were beaten by Shoshoni by an almost identical score on Saturday.

Friday night at Tiger Gym, the visitors took a 4-1 early lead, but Anna Richardson’s 3-pointer helped spurt Lusk to a 14-6 first period lead. Riley Shaw and Richardson kept the pressure on into the second with treys as the Lady Tigers built a 26-9 advantage with 3:40 left. Bryn Bruch got into the act with a pair of long bombs inside the one-minute mark and NCHS led 32-14 at the break.

Despite seven turnovers in the third quarter, Lusk kept on scoring and had doubled up L-FL in the 42-21 score with eight minutes to play. Richardson and Abby Kottwitz were strong inside and combined for eight points before Lily Krueger joined the triple club to put NCHS up 55-23. As the junior varsity players finished up, the Lady Tigers ran away with the 56-25 win.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

LFLHS 6 8 7 4 – 25

NCHS 14 18 10 16 – 56

TEAM STATS

LFLHS: 7/39 FG; 1/10 3PT; 8/23 FT; 39 REB; 4 AST; 10 STL; 29 TO; 11 PF

NCHS: 16/37 FG; 6/13 3PT; 6/14 FT; 44 REB; 17 AST; 17 TO; 19 STL; 16 PF

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Richardson 14; Krueger 13; Kottwitz 12; Bruch 6; Shaw 6; Larson 2; Potter 2; ZumBrunnen 1. Rebounds- Richardson 11; Krueger 9; Kottwitz 7; Larson 6. Assists- Shaw 7. Steals- Shaw 6.

Saturday’s trip to Shoshoni wasn’t quite as successful, against a much better squad. Despite a 10-9 first period lead, NCHS found the shots not falling like the night before. The rim size and height are the same in Fremont County, but suddenly the Lady Tigers couldn’t buy a basket. The Lady Blue went on a 12-2 second quarter run and aided by several Lusk turnovers took a 21-12 halftime edge.

Bruch sank a trey in the third, but otherwise NCHS was ice cold as Shoshoni used a 14-6 quarter to extend the lead. Shaw’s triple was a last gasp effort that came up short in the 52-24 defeat to keep the Lady Tigers at .500 on the season.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

NCHS 10 2 6 6 – 24

SHS 9 12 14 17 – 52

TEAM STATS

NCHS: 7/22 FG; 2/13 3PT; 4/7 FT; 21 REB; 7 AST; 23 TO; 10 STL; 15 PF

SHS: 16/29 FG; 3/7 3PT; 11/19 FT; 24 REB; 3 AST; 3 STL; 15 TO; 14 PF

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Scoring- Bruch 5; Shaw 5; Potter 5; Larson 4; Richardson 2; Kottwitz 2; Krueger 1. Rebounds- Richardson 5.

The JV lost to the Lady Doggers 49-40 as Phoebe Allbright scored 11 and Melody Zumbrunnen added eight and Larkin Williams six points. They defeated the Lady Blue 47-37 as Williams led with eight points, followed by Hattie Nelson and Krueger with seven each. The C squad lost a close game at Torrington 45-42 with Allbright scoring 17 and Evelyn DesEnfants nine. In the Freshman/Sophomore tournament at Guernsey Monday they lost to L-FL 50-30 before defeating the home squad 40-28.

This week NCHS opens 2A SE quadrant play with a trip to Glenrock (4 and 5:30 p.m.) on Friday before a SEWAC game at Southeast (1 and 2:30 p.m.) Saturday.