LANDER – The Lady Bulldogs went into the Lander Classic tournament at Lander Valley High School last weekend with an unblemished 4-0 record.

The last time a Lady Bulldog team had started the season with more wins in a row was in the 2014 season where they started 5-0.

After wins against Burns and Lander Valley, it put their streak at 7 and you’d have to go back decades to find a Lady Bulldog team that started any better. They would have a ways to go, however to reach the mark of 19 straight wins during the 2006-07 season, but even that team lost it’s opening game.

Against Lander Valley, the girls found themselves in a tight game right to the end. With heads-up play at both ends of the court at the end, the girls preserved their perfect record as they defeated Lander Valley 43-38.

Brinley Heimsoth was the leading scorer in that game with 13 points and she hit three huge triples. Jadea Graves ended up with 10 points, Lily Nichols had nine, Grace Battershell and Kasey Otero each had five and Annaliese Matthews chipped in one. The team pumped in five threes for the game.

Against Burns, a team that they had beaten the previous week by 10 points, showed a more confident and improved Bulldog team riding on an undefeated streak. The game was never close and the Lady Dawgs won handily, 64-42.

Nichols was the leading scorer with 20 points while both Graves and Battershell each notched 13 with Battershell knocking down 3 three-point shots. The team hit seven baskets from the perimeter. Heimsoth had seven, Otero had six, Laynie Goertz had four and Matthews had one.

On Saturday the first real test of the season would come against Douglas and their basketball factory this year with both the boys and the girls teams ranked No. 1 in 3A. Although the Lady Dogs kept it close, they could not break the six point barrier for most of the second half and then couldn’t stop a late surge that took Douglas to a double-figure lead and ultimately to the victory, 49-35. The only bright spot was the fact that of all the teams Douglas has played this year, none have held them under 50 points until Wheatland did it.

Only three Bulldogs scored in the contest with Graves leading the way with 14 points, Nichols with 13 and Otero with eight.

The final game of the weekend was against Lovell who has been better than their 3-1 record would indicate. In another tight clash, the Lady Bulldogs once again that they could do two things: Come back from being behind and maintaining a lead in the closing minutes of a tight game. After the dust cleared, Wheatland came out on top, 41-35. For the game Graves was once again the leading scorer with 16 followed by Nichols with 15, Heimsoth with five, Otero with three and Battershell with two.

“The team showed growth with a challenging weekend,” head coach Michelle Coplen said. “They started strong with the first game against Burns, and had a great comeback with the Lander game. These last two weeks have shown what this team is capable of.”

The girls head to break 7-1.