Gillette Comes From Behind Against Natrona

The Gillette Lady Camels (20-6) used a huge 2nd half to take down Natrona County (22-4) 54-44 at the Casper Events Center on Friday night to advance to the 4A State Title game against Cheyenne East on Saturday.

With their hopes of a state title on the line and trailing the Fillies 25-21 at halftime, the Lady Camels really stepped up their ga,e in the 2nd half and outscored Natrona 33-19 in the 2nd half to seal the win.

With the game on the line in the 4th quarter Gillette took care of business at the free throw line as they made 10 of their 15 attempts while the Fillies were just 3 of 8 and in the game they made just 13 for 33 in the ball game.

McCorra Ford was 7 of 10 from the charity stripe in the 4th quarter as she scored a career high 21 points, which is also the most points scored by a Lady Camel this season. Julia Seaman, who had struggled of late from the line, made them when it mattered most as she connected on 2 of 3 in the final quarter as she scored all 4 of her points in that quarter.

Sierra Toms made 3 of Gillette's 5 3-pointers and scored 15 points, including 10 of Gillette's 21 first half points. Shelby Johnson netted all 4 of her points in the final quarter and Dani Williams, who fouled out midway thru the 3rd quarter, also had 4 points. Haley Shackelford scored her first points of the tourney on a 3-pointer in the 2nd quarter, while Whitney George had 2 points and Steph Casteel chipped in 1 point, but she pulled down a team high 3 offensive rebounds.

Kaylee Johnson for Natrona scored a team high 19 points and pulled down a game high 21 rebounds, giving her 46 for the tournament. Johnson was unable to finish the game as she fouled out with 48.1 seconds remaining in the 4th. Gabby Johnson was 2nd on the team with 9 points, Veronique Gallegos had 5 while Jena Milliken and Sarah Jones each had 4 points and Emma Norvelle finished with 3 points.

Gillette's defense forced the Fillies into 22 turnovers and came away with 10 steals Sierra Toms had a game high 3 steals. The Lady Camels were able to convert 15 points off of the Fillies turnovers, including 9 in the 2nd half.

Next up for the Lady Camels will be Cheyenne East (23-4) in the 4A girls Championship at the Casper Events immediately following the conclusion of the 3A boys title game, which tips off at 3:30pm. The Lady T-Birds won both regular season games against Gillette, but the Lady Camels exacted a bit of revenge with 73-47 win in the 4A East Regional Semifinal in Gillette.

Under Head Coach Mitch Holst the Lady Camels are 7-1 in title games with their only loss coming in 2008 against Cheyenne Central. Gillette's last title came in 2011 as they defeated Sheridan 71-65 in OT. East's last title was in 2010 when they took down Laramie 49-35. Overall East has 3 state girls basketball titles while the Lady Camels have 13.

You can heart the State Title game on 97.3 KAML FM and online atwww.network1sports.com/station/kaml

For more on the 3A and 4A StateTournaments go to www.whsaa.org