Highlights of the Saturday, March 10th Class 3A girls basketball state championship game between Wheatland and Rawlins.

Scroll down to watch the highlights of the game!

In the 4th meeting this season between the 2 teams, Wheatland would pull away in the last 3 minutes, to repeat as state champs.

 

 

Just by looking at the crowd…you could tell one school’s student section came out in full force! It’s the finals after all!

Wheatland vs. Rawlins in the girls 3A state championship game…first quarter…Wheatland wearing the white…McKenzie Hellbaum will dish the assist to Natalie de Ryk who will get the first 2 points of the game, for the Lady Bulldogs.

Rawlins would respond…that 3 is no good, but Madison Forney will get 3 in a different way…hoop and 1…she had a double-double…18 points and 18 rebounds…the 3-point play gives the Lady Outlaws a 3-2 lead.

This is the 4th time this season, that these 2 teams have played each other…so they should have the other team figured out by now…Hellbaum gets inside to add to her double-double totals…19 points, 14 rebounds…and her team retakes the lead 4-to-3.

And just in case they did not have each other figured out…a few reminders were served…Marisa Peterson was wide open underneath for the lay-in…and the defending state champs have a 1 point advantage, at 6-to-5…but Rawlins is looking for their first title ever…and they were willing to go blow for blow…that’s Catie McFarland standing on the line, so that only goes for 2…she contributed with 12 points and her team goes back up , 7-to-6.

Back and forth the see-saw went…this looks like one of the last highlights and for the most part, it is…someone kept forgetting about Peterson…but didn’t mind…Lady Bulldogs recalim the advantage, 9-to-7.

The lady Outlaws had their own game plans that worked…this is one involved Kaili Feddersen…nice spin move…splits 2 defenders…hoop and the hack…she would convert to put her team back on top, 10-to-9.

If there was one difference in this game…it was 3 point attempts…Wheatland only tried to go long range 6 times, and connected on 2 of them…Hellbaum had 1…but it was enough for her team to lead, 12-to-10 after the first 8 minutes.

2nd quarter…Rawlins would make a number of free throws to go back on top…and then Kyliah Ferris figured that 15 feet was far enough away to get 2 more points…the ladies in red have a 16-13 advantage.

This ended up being the best quarter from their point of view…Forney was in the right place at the right time as she comes up with the loose ball…whistle…count it…she’ll take it. The Lady Outlaws have some mo, leading 18-to-14.

Now, not many field goals were made in this quarter…in fact Wheatland made none…all of their 2nd quarter points came from the charity stripe…Feddersen plays for the other team and she’ll go through 2 defenders for 2 points…and Rawlins was in decent shape with a 23-to-17 lead, going into the locker room.

If he’s thinking that twice is nice…the team he’s rooting for, better get their act in gear soon!

3rd quarter…the Lady Bulldogs would regroup…the path is open for Hellbaum…she’ll take a nice walk in the park on that one, but her team still trails, 23-to-19.

They would get the bench involved a little bit…they outdid their opponent 17-to-6 in that category…this was the only 2 points of the game for Kaila Willis, but it was a big 2 points…the deficit is at 2…23-21.

Here was one problem that the Lady Outlaws had…17 3 point tries…and only made 2 of them…but on this one, McFarland would end up with her own rebound and settle for 2 points instead as her team was still hanging on to the advantage…25-21.

But Wheatland would chase them down…De Ryk with a little catch and shoot action…and they are right back in this game and are now on top 26-to-25.

How about a little defense? Hellbaum was the gate keeper…and she says to Quriss Romero…you shall not pass! So much for that idea, and the opposition had to try again.

Let’s get someone else in here…Chelsey Mudgett…just a little too close to the line so it’s not going to get 3…that bucket ended up counting, because the offense foul happened after the shot. Lady Bulldogs up 4..it’s 30-to-26.

Rawlins needed to bust out of their slump…too much on the first try, but Forney was there to clean up the mess and put it away, and they needed that one…the Lady Outlaws eventually tied up the score at 30.

The part of the game started to turn into a war…and in that case, you need a bunker…Muira Bunker throwing up a bomb and blows one up…Wheatland was growling with a 33-30 advantage.

But the opposition was not intimiated…no one decided to go chase McFarland…and there’s no sense in fetching that ball, because it’s dropping in for 3…this game is getting interesting. It’s knotted up at 33, going into the final 8 minutes.

4th quarter…Rawlins was ready…they were out to prove this is a much different team, from the one that had that huge losing streak a couple of years ago…McFarland…3…drains it…that’s a good start…it’s 36-35…her team is up.

But they couldn’t quite shake the opposition…especially Hellbaum…this is a sample of things to come later…that basket has the defending state champs in withing striking distance…trailing 38-37.

The ladies in red kept trying…and got a little sneaky…Romero draws the defense in…then finds Forney standing right behind them…it worked…Rawlins would go up, 43-39 with about 3 minutes to go.

But here’s where the tide turned…and Hellbaum was the Lady Bulldog that got loose from her chain…she saw the defense coming towards her, and got rid of the ball in time for 2 points…her team is still down 43-41 at this point.

A short time later…here she comes again…she wants to play fetch and she’ll throw the ball herself…we’re tied again at 43 points a piece and Wheatland would eventually go up by 2.

But her team-mates had another trick or 2 up their sleeve…de Ryk is already digging up another basket and defense got there too late.

It’s hard to beat a team 4 times, but somehow they pulled it off…closing out the game on a 9-to-1 run in the final 3 minutes of the game.

The Wheatland Lady Bulldogs…successfully defend their state title and Rawlins denied their first…winning the game, 49-to-44. The 2-time state champs finish the season with a record of 23-and-4.

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