Bulldogs stumble at Cody, crush Worland

The Lovell Bulldogs have had a tough time winning in Cody over the years, and that record continued Friday night as they fell to a hot shooting Bronc team, 60-48. It was only the second loss of the season for the then top-ranked Bulldogs and their first loss in the 3A West.

Saturday, the Bulldogs bounced back to crush Worland at home, 68-35.

The game in Cody was the first real stumble for the Bulldogs this season. They lost at top-ranked 2A foe Thermopolis on February 1 but were shorthanded in that one. Friday, they simply didn’t play well enough to win.

“They outplayed us,” head coach Shane Durtsche said. “They were better than we were that night. … Cody is a tough place to play. We haven’t had a lot of success up there in past years.”

The Bulldogs played well for about a quarter and half in the hostile environment, tied 12-12 at the end of the first quarter and then leading 21-15 in the second. But Cody got hot while the Bulldogs got cold, and the home team finished the first half on a 20-2 run to lead 35-23 at halftime.

“We can’t let that happen,” Durtsche said. “We’re too good a basketball team to let that happen. Number 5, Grady McCarten, man he hit some tough shots during that run, and many of the shots were deep and contested. He’s a good player and hit some tough shots.

“We didn’t do a good job at our end getting good shots, making sure we got some good, easy baskets. We settled for long threes, and they weren’t going down.”

Lovell outscored Cody 11-9 in the third quarter to trail 44-34, and they had a chance to cut the lead to eight at the buzzer but missed a shot in deep. Then with two minutes or so left in the game, the Bulldogs had to foul, and Cody’s Jaxon Hazel hit eight of eight foul shots down the stretch to preserve the win for Cody.

“Our effort was there; they wanted it, but we didn’t rise to the occasion and match their physicality and toughness,” Durtsche said. “On offense, we needed to be more aggressive, move the ball quicker and look for opportunities to attack and not settle for threes.

Jace Nicholls finished with 17 points to lead the Bulldogs, and Owen Walker added 11 points, Kaeson Anderson 7, Matthew Newman 6, Davin Crosby 4 and Kyle Wilson 3.

Worland

The frustrated Bulldogs took it out on Worland Saturday at home, clobbering the Warriors 68-35.

“They were coming off an emotional win, beating Powell the night before in overtime, and we were coming off the loss to Cody and wanted to bounce back,” Durtsche said of the game dynamics Saturday. “The kids responded like I knew we would. We had an early shootaround, and our spirits were good. I had a feeling the Worland game would go the way it did.”

Lovell never trailed in the game. Anderson drained a trey from the corner in the opening moments, and after two free throws by Nicholls and a Worland drive, Crosby scored on a pass from Walker, Nicholls hit one of two at the line and Walker hit a follow jam. Lovell led 10-2.

Michael Williams knocked down a trey to make the score 10-5, but the Bulldogs scored the final 11 points of the first quarter, the run capped by a highlight reel Nicholls to Walker bounce off the backboard for a soaring dunk shot that put Lovell up 21-5 at the quarter break. The Bulldogs also had multiple steals and assists during the outburst.

It was more of the same in the second half as the fired-up Bulldogs played with great energy and outscored Worland 16-6 to lead 37-11 at halftime. Anderson connected twice from beyond the arc in the quarter.

Lovell edged Worland 16-13 in the third quarter to lead 53-24 and built the lead to 68-30 before Worland scored the last five points to cut the final margin to 33 points, 68-35.

Final statistics were remarkable in terms of hustle. Lovell outrebounded Worland 37-16, forced 27 turnovers, dished out 26 assists and had 17 steals.

“That’s when we’re at our absolute best,” Durtsche said of the steals and assists. “The kids just bounced back. It was a long week. We had to travel to Lander Tuesday for the makeup game (against Pinedale), so to bounce back the way the boys did was nice to see.”

Newman and Anderson led the Bulldogs with 17 points each, and Walker added 14, Crosby  6, Nicholls 5, Wilson 4, Cash Wassmer 3 and Owen Edwards 2. Walker added 13 rebounds, seven assists and four steals, and Newman added six rebounds, seven assists and three steals, Nicholls five rebounds, six assists and four steals.

“That was a great game on offense and defense for Newman,” Durtsche said. “He did a very nice job of bouncing back from the night before. I challenged him, and he responded in a big way.”

Southwest foes

The Bulldogs will have their only two-home-game weekend this week as they host Southwest 3A teams Lyman Friday and Mountain View Saturday. Lyman (7-11) has a strong point guard and “another Bradshaw kid (Dallin)” who is a “pretty good athlete,” Durtsche said, adding, “They’ve got decent size and will play hard.”

Mountain View has some athletic players who can shoot the ball, led by Dash Madsen (#1), Durtsche said.

“They will play hard and scrap,” he said. “They’re an athletic team who will play hard and likes to shoot the three.”

Tap times are 4 (JVs) and 7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday.