Bulldogs win three of four at Big Horn Basin Classic

Oh, so close. The Lovell Bulldogs came within an eyelash of winning the Big Horn Basin Classic tournament over the weekend, winning three games at the Worland site before falling to Powell by two points in the championship game in Thermopolis.

Coming off an admittedly poor performance at Cody the week before, the Bulldogs wanted to take a step forward at the tournament and did just that, coach Shane Durtsche said.

“We wanted to improve our defensive communication, and no matter who we played, we wanted to come out and fight,” Durtsche said. “We were really disappointed at Cody, especially the first half, and we wanted to play better. We did that. Defensive communication was a big point of emphasis going into the weekend.”

Lovell clobbered Class 1A Riverside 61-21 and Class 2A power Wyoming Indian 55-34 on Friday in Worland, then beat host Worland 50-43 on Saturday. Traveling to Thermop for the championship game, the Bulldogs led for most of the game before falling 60-58.

Riverside

The Bulldogs simply overwhelmed the Riverside Rebels Friday afternoon, doubling up the Rebels 20-10 in the first quarter and crushing them in the second, 24-2, to lead 44-12 at halftime. The running clock mercy rule kicked in midway through the third quarter, and Lovell outscored Riverside 17-9 in the second half.

Durtsche said a lopsided win gives a coach a chance to play lots of players and work on things, “run different sets and run our motion offense through,” he said. “But with the running clock in the third quarter it’s hard to get kids in and work on the things you need.”

Owen Walker led the Bulldogs with 14 points, and Parker Anderson added 12, Blake Wilson 11, Matthew Newman 9, Robert Romero 8, Kyle Wilson, Kaeson Anderson and Parker Steenbakkers 2 each, Davin Crosby 1.

Wyoming Indian

Senior Parker Anderson had experienced a bit of a slow start to his final season, Durtsche said, but he came to play against Wyoming Indian and led the Bulldogs to a 55-34 win with 24 points.

“Parker had a really nice game,” Durtsche said. “He was really aggressive and attacked the rim. He can really fill it up in bunches – a natural scorer. In my talks with Parker, I tell him that, at any point in the game, it’s important to get to the rim. That opens up so much more. That was big for us this weekend – Parker was finally Parker.”

Durtsche said senior Blake Wilson sprained his ankle in the first half and was unable to play the rest of the game after the ankle swelled. Since Wilson is a key to Lovell’s 1-3-1 zone, playing out front, the Bulldogs switched to a 2-3 zone, and Romero looked good with his quick, active hands, and he said Newman is “just a pest on defense,” adding, “Our aggressive defense really swarmed them, and then you have Owen protecting the rim.”

Wyoming Indian came into the game 9-3 and ranked fourth in Class 2A, and for a while the Chiefs traded baskets with third-ranked (3A) Lovell. After Darwin Gambler drained a three-pointer to give the Chiefs an 11-10 lead, the Bulldogs finished the first quarter on an 11-0 run, sparked by Anderson, who scored 9 of the Lovell 11 points. A 10-0 outburst in the second quarter put Lovell up 31-13, and the Bulldogs went on to lead 34-19 at halftime. Anderson poured in 16 points in the half, Walker 9, including a flying dunk in transition.

Lovell widened the lead to 19 points with a 12-8 third-quarter advantage, then edged WIHS 9-7 in the fourth to win by 21 points, leading 53-27 before Durtsche cleared the bench.

It was a great win for the Bulldogs, their best performance of the weekend, Durtsche said, noting that Wyoming Indian is a good team that will “make some noise in Class 2A.”

After Anderson’s 24 points, Walker scored 11, Crosby 9, Newman 7, James Blau and Romero 2 apiece.

Worland

The Bulldogs had a battle on their hands with Worland Saturday afternoon before pulling out a 50-43 win. Worland led 23-22 at halftime and trailed Lovell just 33-31 after three. The Bulldogs finally outscored Worland 17-12 in the fourth quarter to pull away.

“Worland is a scary team,” Durtsche said. “They’re tough as nails and grind you. There’s no backdown in those guys at all. Nothing comes easy against them. I was surprised we were down by only one at halftime, because this wasn’t the team we saw the night before. We weren’t making shots and weren’t rebounding well.

“They outrebounded us 30-18 in the game, 18-6 in the first half.”

A key down the stretch was breaking the Worland press, Durtsche said. 

“We got layups and dunks on them,” he said. “They ran a 1-2-1-1 press, and we broke it down. It was good to see.”

Crosby and Anderson scored 12 points each for the Bulldogs, Walker 9, Newman 8, Blake Wilson 6 and Romero 3.

Powell

The finale against Powell Saturday evening was a classic battle between two teams. Lovell led second-ranked Powell for much of the game, only to fall short at the very end.

Lovell led 16-13 after the first quarter, 31-26 at halftime and 47-42 after three before Powell won the fourth, 18-11.

“We went toe to toe with them and actually led for most of the game, which was reassuring,” Durtsche said. “We kind of gave them the game, but they did turn up the pressure. Some turnovers and quick shots hurt us, and at the end of the day, while we wanted to win, the conference (schedule) is what really matters.

“They’re a really nice team, and our kids played well.”

Durtsche said the Bulldogs had the ball with the game tied 58-58 with a minute to play. The Bulldogs spread the floor and worked the clock, looking to score if the opportunity arose. Anderson saw an opportunity, but his contested shot at the rim failed to connect.

Powell then worked the clock and, after a pair of Lovell fouls to get to the bonus, Powell worked the clock down to the final seconds, then called time out. The Panthers ran an in-bounds play that the Bulldogs failed to defend and won the game with a late bucket.

“We’ll learn from that,” Durtsche said. “We controlled that basketball game until the fourth quarter. The kids had a great weekend, and now it counts.”

Anderson led Lovell with 18 points as his strong weekend continued. Newman added 13, Walker 10, Crosby 7, Romero 5, Blake Wilson 3 and Braxton Felkins 2.

Home game

Now 10-3, the Bulldogs will open 3A Northwest conference play at home Friday night, hosting Worland for one of only five scheduled home games at 4 (JVs) and 7 p.m.

“They’ll give us some different looks, will probably play more zone than they did (Saturday),” Durtsche said. “We’ll throw in a few wrinkles. We’ll probably pressure them more than we did and switch up some defenses.”