The Wind River Lady Cougars have their ticket to the big dance beginning this Thursday at Casper College against Lingle-Ft. Laramie at 4:30 pm.
Wind River hoped to meet Wyoming in the regional finals but the upset of the tournament sent the Lady Cougars to the consolation round when Kemmerer edged them 45-44 in semi-final action.
The Lady Cougars regrouped on Saturday morning blowing out Big Piney 70-41 in a loser-out game played at 8 am. The Lady Punchers may have been a little tired after their starters stayed in almost the entire game on Friday in a blowout win over Wind River.
Saturday afternoon, Wind River met Rocky Mountain for the third time this season with both teams winning at home.
A third/fourth game is often a battle of endurance and that was the case in the Lady Cougars’ come-from-behind win over the Lady Grizz 34-31. Neither team shot well, passed well or played stellar defense, but they were evenly matched in the effort.
Wind River is balanced this season with good players off the bench. Delaney Gambler came to play in this tournament, pacing the team in the Saturday morning qualifier against Big Piney with 15 points.
She and Allison Tidzump made a formidable defensive presence in the low block.
Amand Jenkins, Natalie Walker, and Jonae Spoonhunter were consistent across all three games and freshman Madi Arneach hit key shots and passed into the post well. Karina Frederick was a nightmare for opposing guards with her pressure defense.
In the third-place game, Wind River trailed for 31 of the 32 minutes of play.
They fell behind early 22-15 but an 8-0 run on 3-pointers from Jenkins and Spoonhunter and coast-to-coast steal and layup by Jenkins put the Lady Cougars ahead for a few seconds in the third period.
Rocky jumped to a 29-25 advantage, but Wind River rolled back on a 9-2 run with Walker hitting a trey and a pair of free throws, and Spoonhunter giving the Lady Cougars the lead for good on a 10-foot jump shot with 57 seconds to play.
WIND RIVER 17 10 12 5 – 44
KEMMERER 9 10 16 10 – 45
Wind River – Karina Frederick 1 0-0 2, Natalie Walker 1 (1) 1-2 6, Amanda Jenkins 3 0-0 6, Jonae Spoonhunter 3 0-0 6, Emma Miller 1 0-0 2, Madi Arneach 1 3-6 5, Allison Tidzump 5 1-4 11, Delaney Gambler 3 0-0 6. Totals 18 (1) 5-12 44
Kemmerer – Martinez (1) 2-6 5, Thatcher 3 (2) 8-8 20, Skidmore 3 3-5 9, Archibald 1 1-2 3, Thatcher 2 1-4 5, Carlson (1). Totals 9 (4) 15-24 45
WIND RIVER 16 18 14 22 – 70
BIG PINEY 4 14 10 13- 41
Wind River – Frederick 4 0-1 8, Walker (1) 2-2 5, Jenkins 1 (3) 0-0 11, Spoonhunter 4 (1) 0-0 11, Tanaya Burnett (1) 0-0 3, Arneach 1 (1) 0-0 5, Tidzump 5 2-4 12, Gambler 7 1-2 15. Totals 22 (7) 5-9 70
Big Piney – Totals 13 (1) 12-21 41
WIND RIVER 13 2 8 11 -34
ROCKY MOUNTAIN 11 8 8 4 – 31
Wind River – Frederick 2 2-2 6, Walker (1) 2-2 5, Jenkins 2 (1) 3-4 10, Spoonhunter 3 (1) 0-0 9, Miller 1 0-0 2, Arneach 1 0-0 2, Tidzump 0-2 0. Totals 9 (3) 7-10 34
Rocky Mountain – Cooley 1 1-2 3, Schoening (1) 0-0 3, Christiansen 2 0-0 4, Moss 2 0-2 4, Wambeke 3 1-4 7, Basset 3 4-8 10. Totals 11 (1) 6-16 31