Lady Camels Advance to State Semis...Again

It might not have been the prettiest game, but the Gillette Lady Camels (19-6) advanced to their 21st straight 4A State semifinal with their 40-16 win over Evanston (10-17) at Casper College.

Things started out very slow offensively for Gillette as they mustered just 2 1st quarter points as they trailed 6-2 going into the 2nd quarter. But, that's when Gillette went on a 20-0 run through the 2nd quarter and early parts of the 3rd quarter and they held the Lady Red Devils scoreless in the 2nd quarter and it was 22-2 before Evanston scored again. Gillette grabbed their first lead at the 6:14 mark of the 2nd quarter and they never relinquished it.

Gillette's defense remained solid in the 2nd half as they shutdown Evanston's offense as they could only account for 10 points. For the game the Lady Red Devils shot just 17.1% from the floor while Gillette made 41.5% of their shots, including 37.5% from behind the arc in the 2nd half.

Sierra Toms broke out her state scoring slump with a game high 16 points, which was the first time she finished in double figures at the state tournament. In her previous 6 games in Casper Toms averaged just 4.8 points per game. She also had 2 of the Lady Camels 3-pointers.

Julia Seamans was 2nd on the team with 8 points, Whitney George had 4, Dani Williams and Bridgit Cargal each had 3 points while Steph Casteel, McCorra Ford and Shelby Johnson each had 2 points.

Evanston was led by McKensie Herold as she scored all her team high 4 points in the 3rd quarter. Ashley Thornock chipped in 3 while Briane Sanders, Hailey O'Neill, Ali Barker and Meghan Cranford each had 2 points and Jessie Fraughton chipped in 1 point.

Next up for the Lady Camels they'll take on Natrona County, who defeated Laramie 39-36 in OT, on Friday in the Semifinals at the Events Center at 6pm and you can hear the game on 97.3 KAML FM and online at www.network1sports.com/station/kaml

For complete results from the 4A and 3A state tournaments go to www.whsaa.org