Lady Cats struggle

The Thermopolis Lady Bobcat basketball team lost to Greybull at home Friday and Saturday on the road against Lovell.

The Lady Cats fought hard against Greybull and were only edged out by two points. At the buzzer, Thermopolis lost 34-36.

According to coach Cory Sova, the girls had a poor night shooting the ball and struggled taking care of the ball. "It was a sloppy game and we didn't get near enough field goal attempts because of our miscues," said Sova.

It was the Lady Cats defensive skills that kept them in the game. Sova plans to eliminate mistakes made by continuing to work hard as a team.

Haley McDermott led the team in scoring and had three rebounds and three steals. Randi Ellison had six rebounds and two steals. Korey Smith had four rebounds and passed the ball well, leading the team with three assists. Lizzy Lofink added three assists and two steals. Jules Ward had four rebounds and two assists. Jessica Schierkolk had five rebounds and Melissa Ward had four. 

On the road Saturday, Lovell took the game from the Lady Cats right from the beginning and refused to let them have it back. Thermopolis held tough, but Lovell took the win 38-65.

"Lovell is leading 3A in scoring for a reason; they have some athletic girls who can really score with the ball," said Sova.

The Lady Cats have been working on stopping offensive rebounds and it paid off. Lovell was unable to grab any offensive rebounds during the second half of the game.

"The two positives for this game were cutting our turnovers down against a very athletic physical team and our willingness to block out and rebound the ball," said Sova.

Smith grabbed six rebounds that went with her nine points. Lofink lead the team with five assists and added three rebounds. "Lofink takes pride in finding the open shooter and is passing well," explained Coach Sova.

Jules Ward played well getting five rebounds and made three layups. Elisson played well getting five rebounds and three steals. McDermott also had three steals and two assists. Melissa Ward was credited with four rebounds.

Coach Sova is proud of his team and the girls on it. "They are a resilient group who have a covenant of winning together and losing together," said Sova.

Sova explained that the team will be practicing a lot of shooting drills with game like conditions and continue to work on rebounds. In the end the goal is to get the ball and make more shots.

The Lady Cats will be traveling to Rocky Mountain on Thursday, Jan. 28 for a conference game.

Rocky Mountain will prove to be a challenge on their home court. "We will have to play well to get a win," said Sova.

On Saturday, Jan. 30 the Cats host Shoshoni. Shoshoni has good size and are much better than their record indicates, Sova explained.