THERMOPOLIS - Having their Friday games against Buffalo High School postponed for Tuesday, the Hot Springs County boys and girls basketball teams each had tough nights against their 3A East: West division foes at Hot Springs County High School Tuesday night.

The Lady Bobcats fell to the No. 4-ranked Buffalo Lady Bison 73-34, while the Bobcats went down 69-25.

LADY BOBCATS

A bad first half of basketball proved to be the difference for the Lady 'Cats, with the buckets not falling and lights-out shooting from Buffalo on the other end. The Lady Bison held a 44-10 advantage heading into the locker rooms at halftime.

"In the first half we couldn't get a shot to fall and Buffalo is pretty athletic. It all came down to our lack of execution, poor shooting and Buffalo's ability to hit 3-pointers. They also hit tough shots around the rim. Size-wise they're bigger and more athletic than us, we did get to the free-throw line, but they were just red-hot from the field," said HSCHS girls basketball coach Cory Sova.

The second half went better for the Lady 'Cats and while they were not able to close the deficit they did play much closer, losing the half 29-24.

Helping the cause for HSCHS in the last half of the game was sophomore guard Ashley McPhie, who led the team in scoring with 14, all of which came in the second half.

"We just couldn't answer in the first, unfortunately. Second half was pretty even. Ashley McPhie did get hot for us in the second half scoring all 14 of her points and nine in the third quarter. I was really happy with the girls in the second half. They could have folded and quit but they stuck with it. I can live with 29-24 but we just have to play a full 32 minutes," said Sova.

The Lady 'Cats need to quickly put Tuesday's game behind them as they have their final 3A East: West game of the regular season up next against the Rawlins Lady Outlaws on Friday.

Rawlins is coming off a big 45-40 win vs. Buffalo last Saturday and is a team that can play tough defense. In their last outing vs. Rawlins on Jan. 26, Thermopolis lost 59-35.

The game plan on Friday for the Lady 'Cats is to play closer to what they showed in the second half against Buffalo, rather than the first.

"They're [Rawlins] one of the most athletic teams in the state and if they shoot the ball well, they're a tough out. The game plan is, take care of the ball and get a quality shot at the basket, move our feet on defense so they don't have any easy ones and close out on their shooters," said Sova.

BOBCATS

A tough start in the first half, unfortunately, did not get any better for the Bobcats against No. 2 Buffalo. The Bison used their high-pressure defense to force the Bobcats into turnovers, to which they quickly turned into points on the other end.

At the 4:27 mark in the first quarter the Bison jumped on the Bobcats 14-3. After a timeout by Bobcat coach Kevin Gerber, the 'Cats had a spurt that cut the lead to 14-6, however, Buffalo responded to that spurt with a 12-6 run, closing out the quarter with a 26-12 lead.

That first quarter was a microcosm of the 'Cats struggles against the Bison Tuesday night. Each time they stopped the advance of Buffalo and gained a few inches back, 3A's No. 2-ranked team blitzed them and pushed them back even further.

The No. 4-ranked Rawlins Outlaws are the 'Cats next opponent, on Friday, at Rawlins High School. The 'Cat will set out to better their last outing vs. the Outlaws, when they fell 60-19 on Jan. 26 at Hot Springs County High School.