The Rock River girls basketball team are back to the Wyoming Class 1A State Basketball Championships a year hiatus.
The Lady Longhorns (16-8 overall) are the East No. 3 seed, and will take on West No. 2 Little Snake River (14-11) at 9 a.m. today at Casper Events Center.
Rock River punched its ticket to state during last week’s regional tournament in Douglas. The Lady Longhorns started with a 45-26 win against Hulett and then lost a close 29-24 contest to Kaycee.
Facing elimination, Rock River rebounded for a 46-37 win against Arvada-Clearmont and won the third-place game 47-39 against Lingle-Fort Laramie.
“I am very proud of this group of young ladies,” Rock River coach Ty Vallier said. “They have put in the work and it has paid off for them. They continue to get better in practice through hard work.
“They have really come together as a team and I feel they will continue to get better. I am excited for the state tournament and I fell their best is still to come.”
The Lady Longhorns are led by seniors Delaney Qualls and Lydia Moore and junior Rachel Broyles.
Heading into the regional tournament, Qualls averaged a 1A third-best and team-high 17.4 points per game, including going a 1A third-best 80% (44 of 55) from the free-throw line. Lydia Moore adds 8.4 points to go with team-highs of 7.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. Broyles has team-highs of 1.6 assists and 2.5 steals.
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