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CASPER - Treating it as if it were another basketball game the Lady Warriors defeated the Cody Fillies 43-39 to extend their season one more day, Friday morning at Kelly Walsh High School.

The pressures of an elimination game at the 3A State girls basketball tournament never got to the Lady Warriors. In fact, the team was composed and even keel from tipoff to the final buzzer.

"We knocked down some shots, we didn't shoot it particularly well. In the first half we were 3 of 17 from the 3 [point line], and usually, that's not a recipe for success, but we did hit three of them that gave us some points. Defensively, we gave them [Cody] fits with our press," said WHS girls basketball coach Ben Hofmann.

The Lady Warriors had three players score in double figures in the win over Cody. Senior Saige Jones led the team with 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting, senior Casey Wassum added 12 and had six steals and junior McKenna Butte had 10 points and pulled down six rebounds.

Hofmann credited his seniors for bringing a calm demeanor and keeping the team loose throughout the contest.

"They've been outstanding all year, they've bought into everything we've wanted to do, and we came out and scored 12 points in the quarter, and that's pretty good for us," said Hofmann. "They were pretty loose and realized and excited to be here. You always wonder as a coach what effort you're going to get, I thought we got a great effort," said Hofmann.

Added senior Jaycee Page, "We pray before each game and we talked about having fun. We always play better when we're having fun. In the huddle before the game, we're just like let's go out play our best, play hard, we have nothing to lose so we might as well leave it all out on the court."

Cody came out hot, knocking down outside and short corner shots to quickly grab the lead. Yet, Worland stayed the course and put together a series of plays to give them a 12-10 lead by the end of the first quarter.

The Fillies in the second quarter retook the lead but a 9-2 run to close out the half allowed Worland to go into the locker room with a 23-19 lead. From that point on Worland never trailed. Cody did tie or pull within one possession several times during the final 16 minutes but defense and rebounding closed out the game for Worland.

"We rebounded really well down the stretch and I don't think they had an offensive rebound in the last two minutes. Which is big when they're chasing to come back in. They were shooting and we were able to rebound the basketball and continue putting pressure on them on offense," said Hofmann.

The Lady Warriors defense wreaked havoc all game long causing the Fillies to turn the ball over 22 times and scoring 25 points off those extra opportunities.

Junior Ellyse Russell gave Worland valuable minutes with her play Friday. Offensively, she scored six points going 2 of 3 from the 3-point line but it was her defense that provided the biggest boost for her team.

"She gives us a lot of length and some good hustle. In short spurts she does a really good job and knocked down some shots for us. Her athleticism really gives us a lot at the top of our press. I'm really pleased, she's come a long way this year and continues to get better," said Hofmann.

Added Ellyse Russell, "I haven't been playing a ton this season and when coach puts me in I just have to play my heart out and do my best for as long as I can. When you're successful offensively it kind of just transfers that energy into defense. I love defense too and being aggressive and competitive and that got me going."

The Worland seniors of Jones, Page and Wassum were determined to not have their season and basketball careers end on Friday as well.

"Me and Casey talked about how we didn't want this to be our last game. We knew that Cody played well the day before and we didn't play well. So we had to come out playing hard and finish so we could get another day. We definitely did not want this to be the last day of our season," said Page.

The Lady Warriors take on the Lyman Lady Eagles in the fifth-place game today at Kelly Walsh High School. The Lady Eagles have two dominant scorers in McKinley Bradshaw, 3A's leading scorer at 23 points per game, and McKailey Bradshaw. Defense will be the focus for the Lady Warriors as they look to close out the season with a win.

"We've watched Lyman a couple of times, once on film and once here [in Casper], obviously the Bradshaw cousins you have to watch out for them because they can take over at any given point. We're really going to have to defend and rebound and play solid down in the post without fouling," said Hofmann.