It was two and out for the Lady Chiefs at the Class 2-A state tournament, a rare quick appearance for head coach Aleta Moss and her girls. After an opening-round loss sent the Lady Chiefs to the consolation bracket they met a familiar opponent in the Shoshoni Lady Blue. Shoshoni took a 52-44 win to advance to Saturday in a Friday morning elimination game that ended the season for Wyoming Indian.
Saturday, Shoshoni played Rocky Mountain for the third and final time this season with the Lady Grizzlies running away with the game from the start in a 52-30 decision.
Against the Lady Chiefs, Shoshoni came out strong, battled adversity, and set a high note on the season.
“The Lady Blue started fast and kept battling. We weathered a few runs by the Lady Chiefs, including a 6-0 one at the end of the half that put us down 1 going into the break. The 3rd and 4th quarters saw quick runs by the Lady Blue to take the lead, “Shoshoni head coach Max Mills said. “We made mistakes, but brushed them off and kept attacking the basket.”
Thursday’s opening-round game against eventual runner-up Lingle-Ft. Laramie wasn’t what Mills had expected.
“We were disappointed by the result from Thursday but bounced back in the morning game to extend the seniors’ last season by 1 game. That’s not usually a game you see the winning team celebrating, hugging, and crying,” Mills said. “But Aleta’s teams are always the class of 2A and getting that win means a lot to these young ladies.”
Shoshoni last beat the Lady Chiefs under Mills in 2012.
The Lady Blue were led by Sonja Post with 18 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Hailey Donelson and Tania St. Clair each scored 15.
Saturday morning games are always hard to judge, and Shoshoni was flat from the start, digging a deep hole early after scoring just a single point in the opening period.
Rocky outscored the Lady Blue in all four periods.
Shoshoni graduates three seniors in Jerikah Huelle, Sonja Post, and Hailey Donelson.
Shoshoni 12 9 13 18 – 52
Wyoming Indian 9 13 14 8 – 44
Shoshoni – Sonja post 6 (2) 0-0 18, Abigail Jennings 1 0-0 2, Morgan Donelson 0-1 0, Hailey Donelson 6 4-6 15, Megan Harris 1-2 1, Tania St. Clair 4 7-8 15. Totals 17 (2) 12-17 52
Wyoming Indian – Roberta Whiteplume 2 0-0 4, Layla C’Bearing 2-2 2, Taya Dixey 2 0-0 4, Elianna Duran 1 5-6 7, Dionne Ferris (1) 0-0 3, Maggie Smith 3 0-0 6, Shye Killsontop 3 (2) 2-2 14, Michaela Hiwalker 1 0-0 2, Camillia Brown 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 (3) 9-10 44
Shoshoni 1 10 8 11 – 30
Rocky Mountain 11 15 13 13 – 52
Shoshoni – Brenna Metzler 2-2 2, Sonja Post 1 1-2, Morgan Donelson (1) 0-0 3, Abigail Jennings (3) 0-2 9, Hailey Donelson 1 (1) 4-9 9, Megan Harris 1 0-0 2, Tania St. Clair 2-2 2. Totals 3 (5) 9-17 30
Rocky Mountain – Victoria Arnold 1 2-2 4, Erminia Garcia 5 4-6 14, Kylee Christianson (1) 0-0 3, Mackelle Moss 2 2-2 6, Shelby Wambeke 2-2 2, Lauren Bassett 2 0-0 4, Kennedi Minchow 4 0-2 8. Totals 18 (2) 10-15 52