Lady Wildcats take Sweet 16 and Great 8 wins; move into Final 4

A shortened post season was made even shorter thanks to a round-one bye for the Fleming Lady Wildcats. The Lady Wildcats, who made their State Tournament debut on Thursday, March 11 in the Sweet 16 round, entered the bracket as the number six seed.

The week opened with a home contest at Fleming that paired the local ladies with the 11th ranked Simla Lady Cubs. As the higher seed, the Lady Wildcats were given home court advantage.

It was the underdog who opened strong on their opponents' home court and jumped to an early two-point lead in the first, 10-8. But the Lady Wildcats answered back by scoring 14 to Simla's 10 in the second to give them a two-point advantage at the half, 22-20.

With their eyes on advancing in the playoffs, Simla regained the lead on the scoreboard in the third tacking on 15 points and holding the Lady Wildcats to 11 to bring the score to 35-33.

Fleming maintained composure throughout the fourth trading leads with the visiting team. They earned their game high tally on the scoreboard in the final eight minutes of play with 21 points. The Lady Wildcat defense allowed the Lady Cubs 14 and Fleming would take the five-point win, 54-49, to advance in the bracket.

The Great Eight round put the Lady Wildcats on the road to Sangre de Cristo. Games that were originally slated for Saturday, March 13 were pushed back to Monday, March 15 due to winter conditions across Colorado.

Sangre de Cristo entered the contest as the third seed in the State Tournament bracket. They went 10-2 in the regular season.

Scoring started off slow between the two teams on Monday night, but after the opening eight minutes Fleming held a four-point lead, 10-6.

The Lady Thunderbirds outscored Fleming by five in the third quarter, one upping the local ladies, 19-18, before the close of the half.

The Lady Wildcats battled back in the third to regain control. Fleming tacked on 15 points after returning from intermission and gave up just eight to the home team putting them up 33-27 heading into the closing minutes.

Fleming maintained their lead, but Sangre de Cristo stayed within single digits of the Lady Wildcats' score in a tight contest. Fleming would go on to put up eight points in the final quarter and allow seven to the home team and the score would close at 41-34 with Fleming on top.

Individual stats for the games against Simla and Sangre de Cristo were not available as of press time.

Fleming's Final Four appearance is slated for Thursday, March 18 at 5 p.m. when they take on the second seeded Kit Carson Lady Wildcats. Kit Carson stands undefeated on the season at 15-0.

The top half of the Final Four bracket had not been determined as of press time, but will list the winners of contests between Briggsdale versus South Baca and Kim/Branson versus Flatirons Academy. Those games were scheduled for Tuesday evening.

A Thursday win over Kit Carson would send the Lady Wildcats to the 1A State Championship slated for Sunday, March 21 at 10 a.m. at Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs.