Girls Basketball: Thermopolis vs. Lovell Class 2A State Championship Game [VIDEO]

Highlights of the Saturday, March 3rd Class 2A girls basketball state championship game between Thermopolis and Lovell.

Scroll down to watch the highlights of the game!

A 2nd half drought by Thermopolis, would add fuel to the fire, in Lovell's quest to repeat as state champs!

Not only will you find 2 good teams competing in a championship game…you’ll find fans competing for the best shirtless body paint award!

Thermopolis vs. Lovell for the 2A state championship…1^st quarter…Lovell wearing the blue…Amanda Shumway almost lost it…but at the last second, she found Jodi Walker and she’ll score on a turn-around J, and that’s how the Lady Bulldogs would get on the scoreboard first, leading 2-to-nothing.

This is the 4^th time these 2 teams have hooked up this season…so by now, Thermopolis knows what works and what does not…Dana Bjorhus knows that 3’s are something that works…she scored 10 points in the game and the Lady Bobcats take a 3-to-2 advantage.

The defending state champs knew what they were doing as well…even if they had to shoot the ball a little bit closer…Walker drains an 18-footer to prove my point, and that would put her team back on top, by a count of 4-to-3.

They would take the tough shots when they had to…Erin Robertson has a couple of defenders in her face on this highlight…she had a little luck on her side, as she’ll get the roll for 2 of her 11 points and her team has the score doubled up at 6-to-3.

Thermop was making this game look like a battle between Cats and Dogs for awhile…Bjorhus comes in and scores on the base-line and now it’s now a 6-to-5 score, and there’s plenty more basketball to be played.

And at times…the Lady Bobcats had each other’s backs…that 3 find nothing but air…but Desi Rangel will get her own 3, in a different way…it’s was her only points of the game, but her team is back on top, 8-to-7.

They had the momentum so far and were finding ways to get inside…here’s a pretty easy bucket by Sierra Schmidt…and Thermopolis had to feel pretty good with a 12-to-7 advantage, after the first 8 minutes.

2^nd quarter…Lovell would get to work on their comeback…Leanne Winterholler, gives it up…gets it back and scores for the Lady Bulldogs…that’s a start…they’re still down 14-to-10.

Let’s get the big scorer in here…that would be Amanda Shumway…she’ll take the lob and lead all scorers with 17 points…and the refs give her 1 more try…the 3-point play makes it a 14-13 contest.

Of course what good is a comeback if you don’t take the lead? Chelsey Ellis will take care of that issue with her contribution, and now Lovell is back on top with 15 points…compared to the opposition’s 14.

Now this next highlight…ended up being a pivotal moment in the game…Bjorhus takes aim from just inside the line and she’ll hit the bulls-eye…the Lady Bobcats lead 17-15, with about 2 and a-half minutes to go before the break…remember that now.

The Lady Bulldogs would stick to their game plan…and it involved Shumway to a degree…she’ll kiss one off of the glass for another 2 and tie this game up at 17-points a piece.

Shumway was doing her job in more than 1 way…she ended up with a double-double as she would tack on 11 boards with those 17 points…including that one…Lovell is back in the lead 19-to-18.

Time is starting to wind down on the half, but there’s just enough to get one more in…how about we check in with Alyssa Geiser? She’s already checked out with a 3 at the buzzer. Now she can go take a 10 minute break as the Lady Bulldogs were up 22-to-18, going into the locker room.

3^rd quarter…here’s where everything started to fall apart for Thermopolis…first Robertson would somehow get very wide open underneath and Lovell was now up 24-to-18.

The score would slowly start to swell, which was good for one team and bad for the other…I’ll let you guess. Walker gets inside for another bucket…and her team has a 9-point edge…it’s 29-to-20.

For the game the Lady Bulldogs ended up shooting 46 percent, which is pretty good when a state title is on the line…here’s another swisher by Shumway, as her team would take control, up 33-to-21 going into the final 8 minutes.

4^th quarter…I’m sure you’re wondering where are the highlights for the Lady Bobcats…I’ll tell you after Winterholler buries this 3 for the opposition…ok…remember when it was 17-15 with 2 and a-half minutes before halftime? Well the Lady Bobcats did not make 1 field goal for the rest of the game, from that point on. They managed only 4 points in the entire 2^nd half…all of which, came from the free throw line.

That stat proved to be fatal as the Lovell Lady Bulldogs would easily pull away in the 2^nd half, to repeat as state champs…54-to-22 was the final score. Lovell finishes the season with a record of 25-and-1.