What might have been

I
t’s been over three weeks without sports and to be honest, I have been a bit distraught that the 3A/4A State Basketball Tournament was hamstrung just as it got started. Our Lady Dogies earned a state berth after four years of being denied, and they were fortunate enough to get to play in the opening contest in Casper. 
They were one of four teams who had the opportunity to take the court at the Big Dance before the tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19. 
And then we dealt with the knowledge that we would just never know how it would play out. The teams who played jumped on the stage to take pictures claiming for themselves either first or second place depending on the outcome of their opening game and all teams and fans went home disappointed. 
Much to my surprise and delight, WyoPreps launched a virtual 3A/4A  State Basketball Tournament over this last weekend where fans could vote who might win the possible matchups! 
Of course I was on that like flies on … a fly strip, and I’ve been glued to the results! 
I am proud to report that in the Friday loser out game, the Lady Dogies just edged out the Pinedale Lady Wranglers to move on to the consolation champion contest. The results of the poll was that Newcastle advanced with a 50.54% to 49.46% vote. 
I can imagine that game was a nail biter from start to finish and that there were many emotions as one team celebrated their season extending another day while the other mourned the end of their run. 
In my mind, I know that every Dogie fan was on the edge of their seat cheering on the team, and I envision that Mercedes Voelker wowed fans with her three-point shooting ability, that Jaylen Ostenson worked her magic pouring in points and pulling down rebounds, and that Shelby Tidyman simply climbed in people’s shorts to deny them defensively and then ran circles around them on offense! 
Ally Cass calmly took advantage of what the defense gave her to either drive to the hoop or rein it in from beyond the arc. Sara Sweet, as a 5-foot, 7-inch inside presence foiled their bigs, Claire Beastrom used her quick first step to throw off defense to score or feed a teammate for the bucket, and Shawnee Miles presented as a threat from the perimeter or off the bounce.
I’m sure that Tiernan Stanton stood like a stone wall and swatted any shot that got close to the rack and ripped down rebounds. 
With the win, Newcastle was pitted against the Rawlins Lady Outlaws who advanced to the consolation championship game after routing the Lady Bulldogs of Wheatland by a vote of 65.21–34.79%. 
These two teams met for the first time at the 3A East Regional Tournament in Newcastle where the Lady Outlaws took the win to advance to the championship contest.
I would imagine that the Lady Dogies entered this contest with a fresh understanding of the Rawlins team and would give them all they could handle.
Unfortunately, the Lady Outlaws likely used face-guarding tactics on Voelker and Ostenson again, so they once again prevailed over Newcastle, claiming the Consolation Championship trophy by a vote of 62.63–37.37%.
I absolutely loved that WyoPreps gave us fans the ability to play out the tournament. Of course, we won’t know how it may have turned out in reality. 
There could have been a Cinderella story! Pinedale made the tourney for the first time in like 20 years so they may have prevailed over Newcastle. 
In the biggest surprise and upset of the season, the Douglas Lady Bearcats were unable to seal the championship game, despite the unanimous number one ranking they have enjoyed all year! The Lady Cats lost a nail-biter to Lander by a vote of 50.28–49.72% in favor of the Lady Tigers.
The Douglas squad is legit and deserving of a state title and to be honest — though it’s tough to admit — this team is the real deal and I feel bad that they were denied the ability to hoist that trophy, because I am pretty confident that had they had the opportunity to play, the title would have been theirs.  
What I loved is that WyoPreps gave us fans, who were bereft at losing the tournament, the ability to at least play it out! 
Kudos WyoPreps. This seriously made this sports fan beyond happy!