Lady Dogies close out the season

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
The Lady Dogies began this season with the goal of getting better every week, and head coach Chad Ostenson was pleased to see his team achieve that goal as they ended their season last weekend at the 3A East Regional Tournament in Wheatland.
Though the squad did not qualify for the state tournament, they did make it into the second loser-out game on Saturday, rather than going two-and-out on the weekend.
“I was very proud of the girls for keeping their season alive,” Ostenson smiled. “They finished better than two other teams, and just as good as one other, so they can be proud of that.”
The ladies began the tournament on Thursday against the home-standing Lady Bulldogs of Wheatland, whom they had defeated just five days before. The contest got Regional action started as it was the “coffee cup” game beginning at 8:30 a.m. Normally, this is a pretty quiet competition with just a smattering of fans from the two teams, but that was not the case because Wheatland released their entire student body to go to the gym to cheer on their girls.
“It was a pretty good environment to play in and it was fun. It was loud, it was noisy and it was what regional basketball is supposed to be,” Ostenson grinned. “I think a little of that kind of got to us though, because our eyes were pretty wide.”
As the contest got underway, it was apparent that the Lady Bulldogs had made some adjustments from the previous weekend, cutting off the lane and forcing Newcastle to shoot from the perimeter.
“They sagged off where they could, and shut us out of driving to the hoop down the middle,” Ostenson stated. “When we kicked it out, we didn’t knock down the shots like we needed to so that hurt us.”
With the support of a full student body cheering them on, the Lady Bulldogs jumped on Newcastle early, going into the half with an 18-3 lead. Unfortunately, the Lady Dogies were unable to pull themselves out of that hole, and went on to fall to Wheatland 20-42.
“It wasn’t our best game by any means, but I think we learned a little from it regarding tournament intensity and atmosphere. It’s a different environment this time of year,” Ostenson nodded. “We didn’t do a lot poorly, but we didn’t do much really good either. It was just one of those games where we couldn’t get a lot going. They got all the loose balls and they hustled harder, and that’s where it killed us.”
The loss meant the Lady Dogies were in for a tough go in order to qualify for state given the way the bracket shook out, and it sent them into the loser out game on Friday morning against the Burns Lady Broncs. 
Though it was once again the early morning contest, the Lady Dogies came out ready to play.
“We started the game out with our tip play, which we executed well, drawing a quick foul on them to start,” Ostenson described. “Then on our next possession, we ran a couple of set plays for teams who overplay like they do, and we hit Lexus [Voelker] on a back-door cut so got on the board first with a quick layup.”
From the tip, the Lady Dogies brought the intensity in the contest and dominated the Lady Broncs for the first three quarters of play. In the final frame, however, Burns began to make a comeback. Fortunately, Newcastle had built a 12-13 point buffer, which saved them from their opponent’s 22-12 point run down the stretch.
As the Lady Broncs turned up the pressure in the fourth quarter, Newcastle appeared to tighten up and then Voelker, who led her team with 25 points on the night, fouled out with about a minute and a half remaining in the game. 
“When we lost Lex, we had a 12 point lead and I knew we were going to need every one of those,” Ostenson declared. “I credit the kids though because they stepped up and made a couple of free throws down the stretch, and we did what we needed to do to seal the win.”
With the 52-47 point win the Lady Dogies kept their season alive another day, but were tasked with taking on the Buffalo Lady Bison in the loser-out game on Saturday morning. Buffalo was coming off a disappointing loss against the Rawlins Lady Outlaws in the semifinals on Friday night, and were on a mission to advance to the state tournament.
“I think Rawlins kind of poked the bear a little bit on Friday, because Buffalo was having nothing to do with losing,” Ostenson chuckled. “They were focused and everything they did offensively was spot on, but it all stemmed from their defense which was just suffocating. Their press put it on us, and took care of us.” 
“There have been times we’ve played them decent, but this time they had something to lose and had a point to prove, which they did,” he continued. “Their effort was everything it could be, and any of the top three teams from the weekend could walk away next weekend with a state title.”
The 16-67 loss closed the book on the Lady Dogies’ season, and in reflection Ostenson was happy with how it ended despite only winning four games.
“What a good crew! I was just so happy with them for the whole year,” he smiled. “It can be tough when you get in those years where you’re not winning a ton, but every week we saw improvement and that’s what we were working for. They finished out a few close ones in the last few weeks, and that speaks volumes for how much they grew.” 
“We will miss the seniors - Lexus Voelker, Makenzie Wagoner, Kaylee Sweet and Lauren Steveson,” he nodded. “They are good kids, and having a senior myself, that whole crew is kind of special to me because I’ve been with them since they went to kindergarten.”
In looking toward next season, Ostenson noted that every player on the team this season had the opportunity to see plenty of playing time, whether on varsity or junior varsity, so that should bode well for the future. In addition, there is a plethora of talent coming to the program next year as this year’s eighth graders transition to high school.
“I think those kids will mix in well with what we have, and I think we should have two full teams,” Ostenson predicted. “The juniors and sophomores from this season really did get to see quite a bit of valuable playing time so that should help, and hopefully with that leadership, we can mix in with the younger kids. Who knows, it could be a fun year.”