Senior forward/post player Tia Orr gets an open shot at the basket against Lingle-Ft. Laramie. Orr finished her career with the Vikings at the Class 1-A Regional in Sheridan this weekend. She was one of the Vikings key players the past two seasons and Head Coach Glenn Freeburg had high praise for her leadership this year.

It was a surprise ending to a story that the Lady Vikings had hoped would conclude with success at the state basketball tournament this next weekend in Casper. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the ending anyone from this area expected.

Entering the Class 1-A East Regional held in Sheridan as the number one seed from the Southeast, the 15-6 Lady Vikings were on target to take one of the four top spots in the tournament, their ticket to the culminating state tourney. But regional tournaments are known for upsets and by the time the final horn had sounded, schools from the Northeast had made a big statement, sweeping the top four places in the regional, sending the Lady Vikes home much earlier than expected.

Things went very well for Guernsey-Sunrise in the first round as they took care of business with a 51-30 win over the Upton Bobcats on Thursday.

The game was never in question as they jumped out to a 19-4 first-quarter lead and never looked back.

The win put the Vikings into a second-round tip-off with Hulett. It was smooth sailing in the first half as they built a 21-15 lead but the third quarter proved to be disastrous as Hulett came out firing, outscoring the Vikes 24-12. Despite a four-point advantage in the fourth quarter, Hulett’s third-quarter run set up an overtime game when the scoring was knotted at 48 all by the end of regulation.

Hulett outscored the Vikes 10-4 in the additional four minutes and took away a 58-52 win.

The Vikes won the game statistically in nearly every category but three-point field goals made the difference and the Red Devils collected 15 points in the long range game.

The loss put the Vikings in a win or go home situation and they found themselves pitted against a determined Arvada Panther team.

The game see-sawed but the Vikings held a 23-19 lead at half. But the net seemed to shrink on the Vikings as Arvada outscored Guernsey 32-22 in the final 16 minutes for a 51-45 win.

Three-pointers and some excellent free-throw shooting turned out to be critical as Hulett tallied 15 points from the long-range shots and were on fire from the stripe, hitting 20 of 21 free-throws.

Though disappointed for his team, Head Coach Glenn Freeburg commented, “The season came to an end one week too soon, but it was a very good one. The varsity finished with a 16-8 record, the best in the last five years. The girls did a nice job of improving on the court this year and we were able to go 6-4 in the SEWAC, which is quite an accomplishment in itself.

The girls played well at regionals, but the teams that we played also played well. Arvada hit 20 of 21 free-throws, a 95 percent rate and when a team does that, it makes it difficult for the other team.”

Freeburg also said he looks forward to next season. “It is exciting to think about next basketball season, with the team that we have coming back, they went 16-2 in junior varsity play and all of the girls were able to gain some valuable varsity time this year.”

Freeburg complemented his two senior players, saying, “Our seniors, Dustin and Tia have a lot to be proud of. They provided great leadership for the younger girls and have opened up the door for the younger girls to continue to improve in the future.”









For the complete article see the 03-02-2010 issue.

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