A historical season came to a historical and record-setting conclusion for the Lone Star girls basketball team, last week in the Class 1A State Tournament at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.
The Longhorns went 2-1 to claim the consolation championship, finishing with a 20-6 record. It was the program’s first-ever trip to the state tournament.
“Those seven girls left it all out on the court every game this year,” coach Kyle Arnoldy. “They played every game to the final buzzer and never once gave up. They were never out worked and they always played the game the right way. They deserve every bit of recognition they receive this year, and I am so proud of how they finished the season. To come into the tournament as the eighth seed and to finish in fifth is a fantastic accomplishment.”
As the eighth-seed, the Longhorns got to face top-seed Briggsdale, Thursday morning in Butler-Hancock on the Northern Colorado campus.
They had lost twice earlier in the season to Briggsdale. They ended up with a third loss to the Falcons, but this time was much closer, 59-49. Briggsdale took a 17-10 lead in the first quarter, but the Longhorns played it fairly even the rest of the game, but could never really cut into the lead.
Alivia Weathers led the way with 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals, Alison Davis 12 points and 11 rebounds, Aleighcea Kuntz six points and two assists, Lamya Kuntz five points, eight steals, three rebounds and three assists, Hailey Forry three points, and Ana Lockard one rebound.
The loss dropped the Longhorns into the consolation bracket, where they took care of business in a big way.
First up was Friday morning’s game with Sangre de Cristo, which had lost 43-30 to Fleming in the quarterfinals.
The Longhorns put forth a dominating effort in the 73-49 win. Davis made the state record book with 32 points in a state tournament game. 
Weathers had 16 assists, putting her two short of the single-game assist state record. Weathers also finished her career with more than 1,000 points.
The game was close early on, but the Longhorns pulled ahead in the second when they outscored Sangre de Cristo 22-19 for a 37-18 halftime lead. They continued to build on the lead in the second half.
Davis shot 15 of 18 from the floor (83 percent) while on her way to the 32 points. She also added 12 rebounds and three assists. Weathers also had a double-double with 15 points along with her 16 assists, and five steals. Amanda Kubitz had 12 points and three rebounds, A. Kuntz five points and two assists, L. Kuntz four points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals, Lockard four points and three rebounds, and Forry one point and one steal.
The win put the Longhorns into the fifth-place game, Saturday at Northern Colorado against Cheyenne Wells.
It was a tight one, but the Longhorns were able to pull it out, 40-35.
Lone Star pulled out to a 14-5 lead, but the Tigers kept battling. In fact, Lone Star was outscored 30-26 over the last three quarters, but did enough to hold on for the consolation championship at the end of a long three days.
Davis had 15 points and seven rebounds, Weathers 10 points, six assists, three steals and three rebounds, A. Kuntz nine points and two assists, Kubitz two points, and two rebounds, L. Kuntz two points, eight rebounds and three assists, Lockard two points, and Forry one assist.
