Lady Wildcats sit in 11th slot for Regionals

The 2023 1A District 4 runners-up, the Fleming Lady Wildcats, have earned a Regional berth following last week's District Tournament. Fleming went 1-1 in the opening round of the post season putting them in the number 11 slot for Regional play this week.

In the Colorado High School Activities Association's most recent rankings from two weeks ago, the Lady Wildcats sat in the number five spot in 1A basketball. They entered District 4 action as the number two seed and opened with a win over the third seeded Prairie Lady Mustangs on Friday at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling.

Fleming held just a two-point lead after the first quarter against Prairie, 14-12, but the Lady Wildcat defense held the Lady Mustangs to just six in the second quarter and owned a 10-point advantage at the half, 28-18.

The local team dominated once again in the third quarter, adding another 14 while holding the Lady Mustangs to eight. Prairie fought back in the final quarter and came within two points of matching Fleming's final quarter score, but the Lady Wildcats remained out in front, 55-37, and allowed them to advance to the Championship game on Saturday afternoon.

Individual stats for the Lady Wildcats' contest against Prairie were not reported as of press time.

Saturday's District 4 Championship contest pitted the Lady Wildcats against the top seeded Briggsdale Lady Falcons. The two teams met previously in the regular season with the Lady Falcons handing Fleming their lone league loss on the year, 64-30.

The Championship matchup would close with a much closer score after overtime.

Fleming held the upper hand after the first quarter, 12-11, but the Lady Falcons answered back with 13 points in the second compared to 11 from the Lady Wildcats.

The third quarter opened with Briggsdale up by one, 24-23, and the Lady Wildcats would once again take control of the scoreboard. Fleming added nine points in the third quarter while holding Briggsdale to nine to go up 32-31 heading into the final minutes of regulation.

The two teams battled throughout the fourth and with just seconds left on the clock, it appeared the Lady Wildcats would take the win when a three-point buzzer beater from the Lady Falcons tied the score at 40-all sending the game into overtime.

Briggsdale controlled the tempo in the extra five minutes, adding 10 points to their side while giving up just one point to the Lady Wildcats and the Lady Falcons would take the 50-41 victory.

Individual stats for the contest were not reported as of press time.

As the 11th seeded team entering 32-team Regional bracket, the Lady Wildcats are slated to take on the 22nd ranked Arickaree Lady Bison. Arickaree holds a 10-10 record on the year.

Fleming's opening round of Regionals is slated for Friday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m. at Kiowa High School. A win on Friday would put them in a 1 p.m. Saturday contest against the winner of Kiowa versus Front Range Baptist.