Cody crashes East party at Class 4A state basketball championships

The Broncs and Fillies won their quarterfinal games at the Wyoming State High School Class 4A Basketball Championships to prevent the semifinals from being an all-East affair.

The Broncs entered as the No. 4 seed but shut down East Regional winner and defending state champ Thunder Basin 51-26. The Fillies, meanwhile, improved to 23-0 with a 46-26 victory against Gillette.

The Cody girls built a 14-2 lead only to see the Camels cut the margin to 23-19 at the half. The Fillies took control in the third quarter, though, as junior Molly Hays scored nine points in the quarter to help create some cushion.

"We had to make some adjustments in the second half," said Hays, who finished with a game-high 18 points. "We hadn't played at that speed in a really long time, so we had to make crisper passes and see the floor better."

Cody faces a familiar foe in the semifinals in Cheyenne East. The two-time defending state champion Thunderbirds have beaten the Fillies in the past two state title games.

Hays believes Cody will be ready for East on Friday night.

"We just have to play our game and focus on what we can control," she said. "We know what we're going up against and we know what they can do. We have to have good ball pressure, play solid defense and get out and run."

Victory Buck added 13 points and Ally Boysen 10 for the Fillies, who held Gillette to 10-of-41 (24.4%) shooting.

Cheyenne East (21-3) was impressive out of the locker room, outscoring Star Valley by a combined 25-5 in the first and third quarters and rolling to a 46-28 victory.

The T-Birds used a balanced scoring attack, with eight players in the scoring column, led by Bradie Schlabs with 12.

The earlier girls' semifinal pits Thunder Basin, a 63-33 winner over Kelly Walsh, against Sheridan, which held on for a 71-59 victory over Green River.

In the boys' bracket, Cheyenne East, which lost in the championship game last year, defeated Jackson 49-39; Gillette rallied from a 10-point deficit to stun West Regional champ Star Valley, 58-55; and Laramie pulled away down the stretch for a 67-54 victory over Riverton.

The Wolverines twice cut the Plainsmen's lead to four points in the fourth quarter, but Laramie made enough free throws down the stretch to advance to the semis for the first time in 12 years. The Plainsmen finished 20 of 29 from the charity stripe; the Wolverines were 3 for 3..

Laramie's Neil Summers was a problem for Riverton all game. The 6-foot-7 sophomore finished with 22 points and 18 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass. Riverton got 19 points apiece from Parker Paxton and Darrick DeVries.

While both the Laramie and Gillette wins were upsets, Cody's domination of Thunder Basin was a stunner.

The Bolts scored the first four points of the game, but managed only two free throws the rest of the first half and Cody took an 11-6 lead into the break. Thunder Basin was just 2-of-10 from the floor and missed all 15 of its 3-point attempts in the first half.

The second half was only slightly better for the Bolts as the Broncs refused to give them open looks at the basket. Cody also was efficient offensively in the second half, going 13-of-25 (52.0%) and only turning the ball over three times against the Bolts' pressure defense.

Seniors Kamden Niemann and Wilkins Radakovich combined for 29 points and 13 rebounds to help lead the Broncs into the semifinals for the first time in five years.