LHS Eagles battle to second place at state basketball tourney.
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CASPER — The LHS varsity Eagles soared and swooped at the state basketball tournament handing the #1 Douglas Doggies a loss before moving on to the championship game and taking the runner up spot by two points, 37-35.
The Eagles had notched a good overall and conference record all season before stepping on the hardwood last Saturday in the Ford Center at Casper against the Worland Warriors in the championship game. The Warriors trailed the Eagles in the first quarter by five points at the end of the quarter, 11-6.
A jump shot at the start of the second quarter by Braydon Bradshaw gave the Eagles a seven point lead, with Bradshaw marking six of the team’s 13 points. Warrior Owen Page went to the bonus line, put up one to cut the Eagles’ lead to six. The Eagles built their lead to 10 with 4:25 left in the second quarter. The Warriors fought back cutting the Eagles lead, but could not overcome and still trailed by one point at the half, 22-21.
The Warriors took a five-point lead in the third quarter following a three by Warrior Carter Clark. Warrior Landen Gilmore put up a three Clark’s shot, and the Warriors stretched their lead to eight. A trip to the bonus line by Warrior Kade Weber gave Worland a nine-point lead at the end of the third.
A bucket for two by Braydon Bradshaw and a three by Carter Bradshaw brought the Eagles within four points of the Warriors. Braydon Bradshaw went to the line and knocked down two bringing the Eagles within two points of Worland. A three from Clark gave Worland a five-point lead followed this. Braydon added two more points, which were followed by two points by Landen Gilmore for Worland so the Warriors maintained a three-point lead with 1:22 left in the game.
Braydon Bradshaw put up two and went to the line for one to tie the game at 35 with one minute left in the game. Warrior Brock Douzenis went to the line to shoot two put up two points to give Worland a two-point lead.
With 22 seconds left in the game, Worland stole the ball and went to the line for a one-and-one. Caleb Smith grabbed the rebound, but the Eagles couldn’t net a ball before the buzzer so the final score was 37-35.
Braydon Bradshaw had put up 20 of the Eagles points during this game.
Before stepping up to the championship game, the Eagles had faced their first opponent of the tournament on Thursday of last week when the faced the 3E Wheatland Bulldogs.
The Eagles maintained the lead in the fourth quarter, built their lead to 14 points by the middle of the fourth. Wheatland fought back, but the Eagles maintained control and added more points than the Bulldogs. When the buzzer rang, the Eagles had a solid win against the Wheatland Bulldogs by 15 points, 32-17.
This win pitted the #2W Lyman Eagles against the #1E Douglas Bulldogs. The Eagles had a 5-1 conference record compared to the 9-0 conference record of the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs had been rated #1 of 3A all season as they had an overall record of 26-1.
Carter Bradshaw rebounded a missed foul shot by Douglas and put the ball up for two with 1:45 left in the first cutting Douglas’ lead to one point. A rebound by Caleb Smith, pass to McKoy Smith and a jump ball gave the Eagles a one-point lead, 43-42, with 1:14 left in the game. The Bearcats edged ahead by one with 10.1 seconds left. McKoy Smith went to the line and hit two, giving the Eagles a one-point lead at the buzzer. 48-47. Then it was on to the championship game last Saturday.