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A GAME FOR THE AGES

On Saturday, the Lady Warriors found themselves right where they expected to be – playing for a state championship.

And as they might have also expected, it would take the most hard-fought 32 minutes of their season as they faced Star Valley to decide who would take hold of the 3A girls basketball crown.

Worland (25-1 overall) trailed by two points at halftime and four heading into the fourth quarter, but came alive in the final eight minutes as it outscored Star Valley (18-5) 20-7 in the final frame to win 44-35 deliver the Worland its first girls basketball state championship in school history.

"I can't even express how I feel right now, this is so awesome – especially for these kids," Worland girls basketball coach Mark Mortimer said after the win Saturday. ""We talked about it before we hit regionals and state – our leaders have to coach out on the floor. It was crazy out here. The fans are yelling, it's loud and they can't hear me from across the floor.

"It's on the kids. They pulled it through. They did a tremendous job communicating and just getting it done."

The first half was a back and forth affair that saw five separate ties and lead changes as the two sides were knotted up at 10-10 after the first quarter. Star Valley gained a slight edge in the second quarter, outscoring Worland 8-6 to take an 18-16 lead into the halftime break.

And though they were down, Mortimer had all the confidence in his team.

"With the group of seniors that I have ... I knew at halftime we were going to win and they were going to take care of business," Mortimer said.

With her team trailing 30-29 early in the fourth quarter, Schneider drove to the basket through contact just as she had done all game long. She finished the layup, drew the foul and hit the free throw to put her team ahead 32-30 with 5 minutes and 49 seconds remaining.

"Once Haley made that three-point play, that finally put us over the hump. Star Valley's heads went down a little bit and we never looked back," Mortimer said.

Leading by only one point and trying to run clock, Carly King caught the ball and was trapped in the corner in front of the Worland bench. She quickly reacted, beating her defender and driving baseline toward the basket – finishing with a layup in traffic to give her team a 38-35 lead with 58.7 seconds remaining.

Star Valley's attempt at a comeback came up short from there and it was forced to foul, putting Worland at the free throw line to ice the game as the Lady Warriors held on for the 44-35 win.

The Lady Warriors knew it would take their best effort and that's exactly what they gave.

Now, they can call themselves champions.

Something no other team in Worland's history can do.

"It's fun to know that whenever I come back to the school, there will be a banner up there in the gym with a '16 on it and I'll know that was us," Schneider said. "We were the first team to ever win a state title for our town."

95 years in the making

Last year, the Warriors had their dreams shattered after a double-overtime loss to Buffalo in the Class 3A boys basketball state championship game. They were mere seconds away from making history by delivering Worland its first boys basketball since 1921 and ending the longest active drought in Wyoming high school basketball.

Luckily for the Warriors, history would only be put on hold for a year.

Saturday, they got a second shot at etching their name in the books as they faced Douglas in the finals of the Class 3A Wyoming High School State Boys Basketball Tournament. And this time around, they wouldn't let that coveted state title slip from their grasps.

Worland (23-4 overall) controlled the game from the tip-off all the way to the final buzzer in a game that it never trailed, defeating Douglas (21-7) for the fourth time this season with a 67-51 victory in front of a raucous Worland crowd at the Casper Events Center.

"The kids really rose to the occasion. We got out to a fast start and that really built all of our confidence – that was so huge," Worland boys basketball coach Aaron Abel said after the state championship win on Saturday. "We were able to get some defensive stops and then on offense, get the ball into the post and take advantage of their lack of size. That was big."

Worland took that big lead into the second half and never let it slip away, leading by as many as 19 points in the fourth quarter before ultimately winning 67-51.

Nicholas led all scorers with 25 points and also pulled down 11 rebounds while Braedon Page also finished in double digits with 11 points. The starters combined to score 52 of the team's 67 points in the win.

Having been close before only to lose it all, Abel was adamant that his team never let up – urging the Warriors to keep the foot on the gas until the very end.

It wasn't until the final minute until reality finally set in and he knew the title was theirs. First Abel subbed out senior Mauricio Caballero and soon after, Nicholas followed – both exiting to standing ovations.

They patiently waited on the sideline as the clock slowly counted down. As soon as it hit all zeroes, the championship celebration ensued.

A celebration delayed for 95 years.

"It was a great group of seniors that got us here. They took their lumps, getting only one win as freshmen with a lot of them playing varsity. Me coming in (the next year) and having to embrace me as a coach – building something their sophomore year, going 6-18 and being highly competitive and then last year (losing in the state championship)," Abel said. "Really just putting in great off seasons of hard work and getting better as individuals and as a group.

"It's all about this senior group we're graduating and it couldn't happen to a better group of kids."