DAILY NEWS photo by Bob Vines
Lady Warrior Brianna Hartbank pulled down a rebound Friday night.

Lady Warriors notch another
conference win against Newcastle

By Sisco Molina
Sports Writer

WORLAND –– After starting off the season with nine straight conference losses, the Lady Warriors now have won two out of their last three conference contests.
Both of those wins have come much to the chagrin of the Newcastle Lady Dogies.
Last Friday, Worland went into Newcastle’s gym and came away with a huge 52-33 win.
This Friday the Lady Warriors were able to get another big win over the Lady Dogies, beating them 49-28.
The first quarter started off with Kasey Keller hitting the front end of her two free throws followed by a huge 3-pointer by Brianna Hartbank, giving the Lady Warriors a quick 4-0 lead.
From then on, the two teams would go back and forth at each other, trading turnovers and points.
In fact, the Lady Warriors might have been able to put the Lady Dogies away early, but there was just too many silly mistakes made by the team.
Nonetheless, they held a slim lead in the waning seconds of the first quarter and it was extended even further when Patricia Smith put up a 3-point shot that snapped the twining of the net as it went through.
The second quarter was where Worland would put the game out of reach.
They would outscore Newcastle to take a 29-13 lead going into halftime.
The Lady Warriors would lead by as much as 20 points in the third quarter, being head 37-17 at one point.
But before the quarter ended, Newcastle would go on a 5-0 run to bring the lead back down to 15.
Going into the final quarter of play Worland had a comfortable 37-22 lead.
In the fourth quarter the Lady Warriors went to their bench due to their big lead, but still managed to extend the lead back to 20 points. They would outscore the Lady Dogies 12-6 and as the buzzer sounded the scoreboard 49-28 in favor of the home team.
Head coach Mark Mortimer said he and his team are already focused on Glenrock who come into town today. “We saw them (Glenrock) and I really think our team has made huge advances on both sides of the floor. It’s a big game, another conference game.”
He finished by saying, “I think our kids are starting to gel right now and we look forward to them coming to town.”
Maurisa Bell led the Lady Warriors with 14 points followed by Kasey Keller with 11, all of which came in the first half.
Katelyn Klispie had eight, Aubrey Heessel scored six, Hartbank put in five, Smith had three, and Carly Cottrell rounded off the scoring with two.
Worland now moves to 6-10 on the season and 2-10 in confernece play.
Newcastle falls to 1-7 in confernce and 4-11 overall on the season.
Worland sits behind Glenrock and Newcastle in the conference standings, but a win tomorrow could push them up to sixth once the regular season is over, due to Worland playing most of their conference game at the beginning of the season.
The Lady Warriors will host the Glenrock Lady Herders today at 2 p.m.

DAILY NEWS photo by Sisco Molina
Colby Wartman gets his hand raised in the middle of the mat after pinning his opponent Jeff Bennett from Thermopolis. The Warriors won the dual 54-26.

By Bob Vines
Editor
WORLAND – The Worland Warriors boys’ basketball team couldn’t shift offensive gears Friday night on the home court and fell to the Newcastle Dogies for the second time in a week. They lost 61-37 after getting beat by the Dogies in Newcastle last Friday night 50-28.
But the Warriors weren’t without some fireworks. Seniors Justin Rohrer and Kris Mull each hit buzzer beater 3-pointers to end the first two quarters with the Warrior faithful on their feet.
The Dogies, as expected, pressed the Warriors all night that helped contribute to 20 Worland turnovers. But the Warriors played patient basketball, working the ball around the outside edges and looking for the extra pass and the open shot. They did have a difficult time driving past, and shooting over, the much larger Dogies.
After a closely fought first quarter, Newcastle was up 12-8 with one second on the clock. Mull inbounded the ball to Rohrer and the guard found the bottom of the net from half court as the buzzer sounded, putting the Warriors to within one at the quarter.
The Dogies ran off the first nine points in the second quarter before Rohrer hit another 3-pointer. With the clock ticking down in the half, Mull found himself with the ball at least four feet beyond the 3-point line and scored another buzzer-beater. The Warriors were down 31-23 at the half.
Newcastle started the second half with a 7-0 run and built to a comfortable lead and the 61-37 win.
Hamilton attributed their second half struggles to a lack of focus and defensive intensity.
“We were right there,” he said of his team’s first half performance. “We just have to go back out and play basketball for a full 32 minutes.”
Worland was led in scoring by Mull with 17 followed by Rohrer with nine. Bru Swing and Nate Barrus each added four, Dakota Lopez scored two and Eli Worrall hit a free throw.
Newcastle was led by Mitch Weigel with 16 and Jeremy Feist with 15.
Although the Warriors have proven that they can compete at times, they have only been able to collect a single win. After Friday night’s game, the coach emphasized to his team that they are capable of success if they played consistently.
“We have it in us,” he said after the game. “We’re not giving up.”
Worland will host Glenrock today with a 4 p.m. tipoff.