CHEYENNE —With the game tied at 51 and less than half a minute left on the clock, Evanston High School senior Tayler Groll stepped to the free-throw line to shoot two shots.

She had been in a similar situation before earlier in her career in a game against Rock Springs. At that time, Groll sank both shots from the charity stripe to seal the victory.

On Friday night against Laramie in the second round of the Cheyenne Invitational, Groll missed her first attempt.

She didn't panic. She knew she could put the ball in the hole. Groll connected on the second attempt to give the Lady Red Devils a one-point lead.

But it wasn't over yet. 

Laramie got off three shots on the ensuing possession in the final 16.5 seconds of regulation, but none of them fell as Evanston improved to 7-1 with a 52-51 win against the Lady Plainsmen.

“You know, I didn’t feel nervous as much as I felt confident – knowing the situation and knowing we had a chance to win. I was like, ‘I have to do this’ Groll said.

Evanston, ranked fifth in Class 5, claimed a 62-58 win against Laramie in the season opener.
This game proved to be just as close.

“I think we can benefit knowing we can handle that pressure with it being such a close ballgame,” Evanston senior Alyssa Dean said. “We can benefit handling that stress and being smart with fouls.”

Following the make by Groll, Laramie had a chance to get three shots off before the final buzzer sounded.

“We continued to fight,” Evanston coach Jeremy Fessler said. “We just gritted it out. We stuck with each other and gritted out a win.”

Evanston senior Emmery Wagstaff, who was averaging just under 24 points per game to lead Class 4, was held to 11 points in the game.

Fellow senior Hailey Barker, who was battling the flu bug, something that has taken a toll on several of the Lady Red Devils in the past week, led Evanston with 15 points. Megan Fisher, another top scorer for the Lady Red Devils was also held under double digits.

That opened the door for some of Evanston’s role players. And they rose to the challenge.

“It’s a good thing when your leading scorer has an off day,” Fessler said. “You might not play your best, but the team still gets a victory because those other girls step up. At the beginning of this year, I don’t know if that would have happened. Those role players came in and got us enough points to get us the win.”

With the game tied, and time running out, Wagstaff was double-teamed at half court. Groll gained possession of the ball and drove to the basket, where she drew the foul.

“It’s immense pressure in that situation,” Fessler said. “And she’s been in that situation before for us. Groll is a good free-throw shooter.”