Cat-astrophic

This story took first place in Sports News Writing during the 2008 Wyoming Press Association awards.

Cat-astrophic

By BRENDAN BURNETT-KURIE

“You just feel like you’ve been kicked in the stomach and you can’t do anything about it,” Douglas girls basketball coach Jaci Heny said after a bizarre and controversial series of calls essentially put an end to the Lady Cats’ state championship aspirations.

With top-seeded Douglas trailing 42-40 with six minutes remaining in its opening round matchup with Worland during the 3A State Championship tournament in Casper March 6, Kelsey Scott was fouled underneath the basket and stepped up to the free throw line. The Lady Cats were in the double bonus, meaning Scott had two free throw attempts regardless of the outcome of her first shot.

Scott’s first freebie clanked off the rim and was pulled down by a Worland player, but instead of whistling the play dead, the referees allowed play to continue and the Lady Warriors scored a basket and were fouled.

“I’ve never seen anything like that. I figured that (the ref) would stop it as soon as he saw that my kids weren’t going for the ball,” Heny said. “We didn’t even go anywhere. All five of my girls were still standing there waiting for Kelsey to get her (second) free throw. I’m yelling at the ref, Kelsey is yelling at the ref, the fans are yelling at the ref. Neither one of them would stop the game.”

Before Worland attempted its first free throw, the referees finally realized their error and awarded Scott her second free throw. But, they still counted the Lady Warriors basket and the free throw, giving Worland a 45-40 lead with 5:30 left in the game.

“I’m going to be honest, we all felt -- I don’t know how else to put it -- a little cheated,” Heny said. I talked to Ron Laird, the (WHSAA) commissioner, and he’s going to go back and review film, but that doesn’t bring back the game. It doesn’t bring back that call. It doesn’t bring back the outcome of the game.”

The outcome did not favor the Lady Cats as they could never recover from the demoralizing turn of events and fell 55-49, ending their hopes at a third state championship in five years.

“You could tell that after that the momentum was gone,” Heny said. “It’s hard for high school kids to not feel that way after a call like that. It’s hard to overcome something like that.”

The free throw mishap wasn’t the only strange scoring situation of the game. Earlier in the quarter Heny was forced to argue with the scorers who had marked point guard Raegen Scott down for seven fouls, when in fact she only had four.

“I’m at the scorers table trying to figure that all out while the game is going on,” Heny said. “The game is happening, I’m at the scorers table trying to defend the fact that my point guard didn’t have seven fouls.”

Despite all the frustrating calls, the Lady Cats battled hard to the end, pulling with three with 3:37 left on a Scott free throw before Worland pulled away down the stretch.

The game started off in Douglas’ favor as the Lady Cats took a 13-10 lead after the first quarter. Poor shooting eventually doomed the girls, however, as they shot only 29 percent from the field, and 20 percent if you take out K. Scott’s 50 percent mark. Senior shooting guard Rachel Saunders, the team’s resident three-point specialist, was suffering from influenza.

“Rachel wasn’t feeling well so it took everything she had to play defense, then to play offense,” Heny said of the senior who attempted 143 triples this season, 107 more than any of her teammates. “To get her shot up was even more to ask. We weren’t 100 percent but I told the girls that (injuries) won’t be anything we use as an excuse. But, you could tell by the way they were playing that they were exhausted.”

Worland pulled ahead 28-22 at halftime and held a 39-34 lead after three quarters. The Lady Cats did roar back early in the fourth quarter after a riveting pep talk from Heny.

“If you want it, go get it,” Heny said in the team’s huddle. “It’s yours if you want it.”

Douglas opened the quarter with a 5-0 run to lead 40-39 with 6:31 remaining. Thirty seconds later, the now-infamous double-bonus play occurred.

“I’ve never, in all my years playing, coaching as a student assistant, felt that way after a loss,” Heny said. “It’s one thing to get beat. But we didn’t feel like we got beat. We felt it came down to a call or two.”

K. Scott scored 16 points and had five rebounds. Saunders scored eight points, but was only 2-of-13 from the field. Tristyn Panasuk had six rebounds and five points. Douglas only had two assists all game.

Lovell 63

Douglas 50

The following morning, playing another 9 a.m. game, the Lady Cats couldn’t shake the disappointment of the opening-round loss and dropped a consolation match 63-50 to Lovell.

“There was definitely a carry-over the next day,” Heny said. “I tried to get them out of that. I tried to get them to stop thinking about the day before. We came out pretty well. But, I think by the time the second half rolled around we were gassed and emotionally drained.”

Douglas went up 18-12 after the first eight minutes, but a 19-9 second quarter for the Lady Bulldogs put them up 31-27 at the half. Lovell’s Kristen Scheffler, who has committed to play for Wyoming next year, racked up 21 points and 11 rebounds on the Lady Cats.

“Scheffler had a great game against us,” Heny said. “There’s a reason she’s going to play Division I basketball. I put everybody on her. I tried to put Kelsey on her, Rachel, Elisa (Etchemendy), Tristyn. We just couldn’t find someone to stop her. Our scouting report said if we can stop this one player, we should be fine. We just didn’t have anyone who could do that.”

K. Scott had a team-high 12 points in the loss, while Panasuk scored 10. Etchemendy, a senior, pulled down a Lady Cat-best six rebounds. Despite the disappointment of a two-game elimination, Heny was proud of how her team held its head high despite the chaotic circumstances.

“I was really happy with our kids,” Heny said. “They didn’t let a lot of controversial things get to them. They kept pushing through all of that. That’s hard for high school girls to do in the first place.”

Heny reflected after the tournament on her three seniors: K. Scott, Saunders and Etchemendy.

“We’re going to miss Kelsey like crazy,” she said. “Her numbers -- 16 (points) and 10 (rebounds) -- all season long we jumped on her back and said ‘Lead us’ and she did. It’s going to be hard to find someone to fill her shoes and I don’t think one person can do it. I think it’s going to take two, maybe three people to fill her numbers. Her leadership this year, for a first-year coach, was great to see. There was times when I didn’t have to be a leader, she was that leader.

“Elisa, she’s the greatest athlete I’ve ever seen. Not the greatest basketball player, but she has nothing but heart. She sat out two years and came back and started some games for us. She just brought it every single day.

“Rachel, there’s our shooter. We have to find a shooter, someone to step up and make some shots. She took the majority of our threes this year. With her, it’s not going to be one person, it’s going to take two or three (to replace her).

“I’m going to miss them. They were the best three seniors I could ask for. They’re three of the best kids I’ve ever been around.”

The Lady Cats finished the season with a 19-8 record. Starters R. Scott and Panasuk, as well as rotation stalwarts Beka Russell and Whitney Darr will be returning next year.

“I think it will take some adjusting to not having Kelsey in there,” Heny said of next year. “It will be a different look for us with Beka and Darr, but they both really stepped up toward the end of the season. I expect a lot out of both of them. I’ll go to work with both of them over the summer.”