EVANSTON — The Lady Red Devils dropped a heartbreaker to the Cody Fillies in Park County on Friday evening, 35-34, but rebounded nicely on the return trip in Riverton, with a convincing victory over the Lady Wolverines, 57-33, on Saturday, Feb. 9, to record a weekend split against the two 4A Northwest Conference opponents.

In Cody, both teams started sluggishly, with only three buckets between the two teams in the first eight minutes. Cody led 4-2 heading into quarter number two.

Senior starter Natalie Robbins picked up two fouls early in the first quarter and was relegated to riding the bench. Evanston was already shorthanded with the injured Zocia Nowakowski not part of the lineup, especially when the Lady Red Devils could use the additional height to contend with future Wyoming Cowgirl, six-foot Paige Powell.

Both teams improved offensively in the quarter number two, which witnessed a pair of ties at 7-7 and 9-9, but the Fillies maintained a one-point advantage at the break, 14-13.

Robbins opened the third quarter with a deuce that gave Evanston a 15-14 lead they would not relinquish until the end of the game. Cody forced another tie at 16 apiece, but spurred by three baskets from senior co-captain Ajahonna Archuleta, the Lady Devils were up by as many as eight points, at 29-21. Archuleta was forced to leave the ballgame in the latter part of of the third quarter, apparently to replace a lost contact lens, which allowed Cody to close the gap. At the end of three quarters of play, it was a one-possession game, with Evanston leading 29-26.

Robbins connected on another crucial basket to pad the lead to five points, 31-26, but Cody had answers and turned up the defensive intensity. Both teams forced a number of turnovers throughout the game.

Lady Red Devil senior co-captain Kori Deru hit a big three-pointer to give Evanston a 34-28 lead, but then Powell seemingly put her team on her shoulders with blocks, steals and scores. Evanston did not score in the final four minutes and Powell netted seven of her game-high 16 points down the stretch. The Lady Devils still maintained a 34-31 advantage with 1:36 left in regulation, but Powell pulled down a big offensive rebound  and converted the stick-back to pull Cody within one, at 34-33 with 1:19 left to play. Powell then drained a turnaround jumper with ten seconds remaining to give the Fillies the game-winning bucket. Deru took the ball the length of the floor with 8.3 seconds remaining and had a decent look at a runner from the lefthand side for the win, but it wasn’t to be.

In addition to Archuleta’s team-high 13 points, junior Amber Lowe finished with seven, with Robbins and Deru each contributing five points. Seniors Kaelyn Hiatt and Sierra Burleigh both added a bucket in the loss.

It was a different story on Saturday afternoon in Riverton as the Lady Red Devils jumped out to a double-digit lead at 15-5 in the first quarter, and doubled-up the Lady Wolverines, 22-11, at the half. Evanston extended the lead to 40-22 with three quarters complete and won going away, 57-33.

Three senior Lady Red Devils reached double-digits in the scoring column, led by Deru’s game-high 17 points, with Archuleta netting 15 and Burleigh adding 11. Robbins had six points and 10 rebounds and junior Taryn Wagstaff added four points. Lowe and fellow junior Tianna Pierce both ended with two points.

The Lady Red Devils are now 11-8 on the season and return to conference action this Thursday and Saturday in crucial games. Evanston, 2-1 in the Southwest 4A, will travel to Green River on Valentine’s Day for a rematch with the the Lady Wolves. The Lady Red Devils won a thriller on Jan. 17, 41-39, at Red Devil Gym.

On Saturday, the conference crown or a share of first place could potentially be on the line, depending on the outcome of Evanston-Green River and other matchups, as the fourth-ranked Star Valley Lady Braves invade Red Devil Gym for Senior Night. Star Valley is 3-0 in the conference standings and 15-3 on the year.