A GLORIOUS, LONG ROAD: After 13 years of fighting their way up, Glenrock girls are heading to Big Game

It wasn’t always pretty, but all the hard work of the Lady Herd this season paid off as the squad earned a berth to the state tournament after hard-fought victories against Tongue River and Lusk.

It’ll be their first appearance in Casper since 2009. 

Glenrock 30,

Tongue River 28

The Lady Herders have shown all season that they have the toughness to compete with anyone. They needed every ounce of that grit to get a big opening round win over Tongue River.

Senior Skylar Harford started things nicely with a weak-side putback to open the scoring for Glenrock and did it again a few possessions later to give the Lady Herders a 6-3 lead. Senior Adelaide Williams made the advantage 8 points a few possessions later, picking an Eagle pocket and taking the ball to the hoop for a score to make it 11-3 in favor of the Lady Herd.

Tongue River found a bit of a groove in the second, applying good ball pressure and getting to the line for 3-point plays. The Eagles (11-15) tied it up at 11 with 6:37 to play in the second quarter as the Glenrock offense stalled out and went into the locker room with a 21-15 lead. 

Both teams tightened things up defensively coming out of the break. Junior Ann-Marie Young feasted in the post, recording a pair of blocks and bothering any shot taken within six feet of the hoop. Just five points total were scored between the two teams in the period and Tongue River maintained a narrow 23-18 advantage. 

In the final frame, it was all about Harford, with the critical moment coming in the final minute. Williams wound her way through the defense looking for any kind of gap but ran into a wall of Eagles. She spun, looking for an outlet as the clock showed fewer than 35 seconds remaining to break Tongue River’s two-point advantage. There stood Harford at the top of the key, waiting. She caught the pass, set her feet, and launched a beautiful arcing shot that kissed the net on its way through and put the Herders up by one with 29 seconds to play and secured a victory for the Lady Herd.

“We’ve been a second-half team all season,” said coach Peter Fenster. “We make a couple of adjustments, they apply it. A lot of the big things we talked about was effort, always getting back in the fight, don’t ever give up. That’s one thing with these girls, they will never give up.” 

Harford led the way for Glenrock with 14 points and 6 rebounds. Williams added 8 points and 5 steals, while Young had 12 boards and 5 blocks in the win. 

Moorcroft 54,

Glenrock 37

The Lady Wolves may have only converted 25% of their shots from beyond the arc coming into Friday night’s matchup with Glenrock, but that didn’t seem to phase them as they launched – and made – triple after triple in a win over the Lady Herd in the second round of the regional tournament, 54-37.

Things started off poorly for Glenrock, with the Lady Herd committing fouls and unable to get into a rhythm on offense due to high pressure from the Lady Wolves. Moorcroft (20-4) opened the game on a 9-0 run before junior Hailey O’Brien cracked the seal with a strong take to the basket. The Lady Wolves nailed two more 3-pointers, bringing their quarter total to four and worked their way into the bonus as they took a commanding 23-6 lead after the first period and extended the lead to 30 points by the end of the first half. 

Whatever Fenster said in the locker room, it must have sunk in, and quickly, for the Glenrock girls. The Lady Herd came out of the locker room rolling, playing smart defense without committing fouls and working the ball around. Williams kicked things off with a big triple to open the period and the Lady Herd started chipping away at their 30-point deficit, dropping it 24 by the quarter break. 

Williams again started a new period with a bang, opening the fourth with a big coast-to-coast steal and score, and followed up with a layup on the next possession. A pair of free throws from senior Emma Wieser made it a 16-point deficit with 4 minutes to play, but the early lead proved too much to overcome and Glenrock was relegated to the consolation bracket. 

Williams led the way for Glenrock with 14 points and 3 steals. Harford and Wieser each had 7 points, with Harford adding 8 rebounds to the effort. 

Glenrock 49, Lusk 35

It’s hard to beat a team three times in a single season, but someone forgot to tell that to the Glenrock girls. After tight first half, the Lady Herders took over in the final two quarters to earn a 14-point win and a berth in the state tournament with a big win over Lusk, 49-35

The Lady Tigers found a rhythm early from beyond the arc, working out to an 8-2 lead on the strength of their perimeter shooting. Glenrock went to the old well of the two-man pick-and-roll game with Young, using the tall junior’s size to their advantage on a nearly undefendable roll and letting her go to work in the post against overmatched Tiger defenders. Williams found a seam right as the buzzer sounded to give Glenrock a 15-14 advantage after one. 

Lusk (3-19) struggled to work against the Lady Herd’s full-court pressure in the second, coughing up the rock and committing fouls. The Lady Herders free-flowing offense of the first became hard to come by in the second and Glenrock scored just 8 points in the period, clinging to a one-point lead.

In the second half, Fenster let the weight of inexperience play to his advantage as the Lusk rotation was cut to just six players due to foul trouble. Glenrock worked the ball around more, put more pressure on the Lady Tiger offense in the halfcourt, and generated steals and fast break points with ease. The turning point came on a big triple from Williams, which touched only the net to put Glenrock firmly in control with a seven-point lead. 

“Lusk is a young team and I think their immaturity got to them,” Fenster said. “They got in a little foul trouble and their rotation went from eight (players) to six. They were gassed.”

The pressure from the Lady Herd did not relent in the fourth as Fenster swapped girls in and out of the game to keep a constant stream of fresh legs working against the overmatched Tigers. Glenrock allowed just five points in the final period as they secured a berth in the state tournament with a dominant second half and Fenster earned a water-bottle shower from his players. 

“It means a lot to me that these are the girls I get to make history with,” Harford said. “I’ve dreamed of playing at state since freshman year and I’m just overwhelmed with joy that we’re finally here.” 

Harford led the way for the Herd with 17 points and 6 rebounds. Williams added 10 points and 6 steals, while Young had 9 points and 3 blocks 

Tongue River 46,

Glenrock 41

Tongue River learned some valuable lessons in its tournament-opening loss to Glenrock and used that new familiarity to eke out a physical win over the Lady Herd, 46-41, to secure a third-place finish at regionals. 

Glenrock opened the game on a 5-0 run, but it didn’t take long for the Eagles to claw their way back in the game thanks to some hot shooting. Tongue River worked the ball around well and missed only three shots in the first quarter. The Eagles cooled off in the second, but Glenrock struggled to convert shots over the tall Tongue River post players. A late 3-pointer put the Herders behind by nine going into the halftime break. 

“We came out very dead, not very awake and ready to play,” Harford said. “We also had some communication problems on defense and knowing who we had on defense.”

The Lady Herders hung around in the third thanks to solid free throw shooting from Wieser, who went 6-for-8 from the stripe to keep the game close, but Tongue River hit free throws of their own and a big triple near the end of the quarter to extend the lead to 10. The Eagles struggled to control the ball in the fourth and Harford bothered shooters in the paint, swatting two shots in quick succession as Glenrock came within one on multiple occasions, but the Eagles were able to ice the game with good free throw shooting in the final minute to get the victory.

“The girls fought back, I give them credit for that,” Fenster said. “They’re never going to give up and it’s fun to coach a team like that, because you know you’ve always got a shot.”

Young led the way for Glenrock in the loss, collecting 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals. Wieser added 12 points. 

The girls travel to Casper on Thursday night for the opening round of the state tournament. They’ll face no. 1 ranked Rocky Mountain (20-4, 6-0 2A Northwest) in the primetime slot. Tipoff at Natrona County High School is at 6 p.m.

Stat of the Week: 14

Coach Peter Fenster must give halftime speeches that rival Kurt Russell’s in Miracle on Ice, because his squad outscored their opponents by 14 points in the third period of their games at the 2A East Regional Tournament. 

Top performers:

Skylar Harford: 10.8 points, 6.3 rebounds

Ann-Marie Young: 8.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.3 blocks

Adelaide Williams: 9.3 points, 4 steals

Emma Wieser: 6.5 points, 2.8 steals, 70% FT