East girls fly past Alliance

The No. 1-ranked Lady Thunderbirds took complete control during a 61-9 victory to wrap up the Taco John’s Invitational on Saturday at the Thunderdome.

East (11-1) recovered after a relatively slow start in the opening minutes, but then found their rhythm with ease. Senior Ky Buell was fouled on a 3-point attempt, and she converted all three free throws to give East a 13-4 lead.

“We were told not to let down,” said East senior CD Lopez, who finished with five points. “We had to show who we are. We come out as we are. We don’t show our weaknesses; we go out strong every time we play.”

Shooting from beyond the arc proved troublesome for East, especially in the first half. Buell and classmate Kaiti Castle went a combined 2 for 11 from 3-point range. Turns out the T-Birds didn’t need to be particularly sharp from deep range in this one. East cashed in from the free-throw line, going 12 of 15 from the charity stripe to help widen its lead to 38-5 at halftime.

“Our shots weren’t coming down too good, but free throws win games,” Lopez added. “That’s what it comes down to.”

At one point, the T-Birds were on a 32-0 run in the second quarter. The home team took a 38-5 lead into halftime.

The Lady Bulldogs scored their lone point in the second quarter with 44 seconds left – a free throw from Angie Davis. Things were rough for Alliance, which played with six players for nearly a minute before being whistled for a technical foul.

East started to heat up from the field during the third quarter. Buell hit a trio of 3s, while Castle added another to help push the margin to 57-9.

Buell led all scorers with 25 points, while freshman Boden Liljedahl posted seven and Castle finished with six.

As lopsided as the final score was, East came away with a few takeaways – mainly that it can come up with points from all areas of the court.

“That’s got to be us,” second-year T-Birds coach Eric Westling said. “We’re starting to build to be that complete team we want to be. You’re going to have nights where you’ve got to rely on different areas to win, and that’s what we’ve talked about all summer and what we’ve talked about early in the season.”

EAST 61, ALLIANCE 9

Alliance...... 4 1 4 0 – 61

Cheyenne East...... 21 17 19 4 – 9

Alliance: Weber 4, Steggall 0, Davis 1, Schnell 0, Gibson 0, Mazanec 0, Hopp 0, Tritle 4, Burke 0, Wear 0, Wood 0, Knapp 0, Stark 0, Hood 0, Montes 0.

Cheyenne East: R. Jacobsen 0, E. Jacobsen 4, Alvarado 5, Lopez 5, Blaney 3, Knipper 2, Buell 25, Castle 6, Danni 4, Walsh 0, Liljedahl 7.