Coming on strong: Bulldogs flex muscles, hammer Powell and Thermop

Powering up for the February stretch run, the Lovell Bulldogs crushed a pair of strong opponents on the home hardwood this week, blowing past conference foe Powell Thursday night, 68-37, and avenging an earlier loss to top-ranked 2A power Thermopolis with a 62-37 victory.

Still, Lovell coach Shane Durtshe was cautious about proclaiming that his team is performing at peak level, noting that there is improvement to be made and that the games were really the first complete games the Bulldogs have played.

“We’re getting better, and we’re starting to look like we can,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve peaked, for sure, because we can get better, but we’re starting to look like I knew we could. There are still some improvements to go, but overall, yes, I really liked our energy. And defensively, for the most part, both nights we were pretty good. That’s the best we’ve looked, the best we’ve played this year. I still think we need to get better, but we’re getting there. We’re figuring it out.

“Really, when you go back and look at stats, even like, say, Powell Thursday, it’s not like we shot the lights out by any means. I mean, we were three of 15 from three. They didn’t shoot well, either. They (Powell) were four of 15 from three, but they rely on it. They try to shoot it, and they only shot it 15 times.”

Powell came into the game Thursday ranked fourth in Class 3A at 11-2, 1-1 in the 3A West, but after the two rivals traded baskets early, the Bulldogs asserted themselves with strong defense and hot shooting, especially from senior Owen Walker and junior Kaeson Anderson, who combined for 37 points.

Powell jumped out to a 5-0 lead on a bucket by Caden Nelson and a three-pointer by Abel Teten over Walker. Lovell quickly tied the score on a pair of tap-ins by Walker, the second of which included an “and-one” free throw. The game was tied 7-7, but the Bulldogs outscored Powell 16-5 the rest of the quarter to lead 23-12 at the break. Anderson scored 10 points during the outburst, Kyle Wilson 4.

A 7-0 run to close the first quarter turned into a 20-0 outburst in the second quarter to stretch the Lovell lead to 36-12 before Powell finally broke the string with a steal and bucket by Nelson, and Lovell went on to lead at intermission, 40-19.

Durtsche said the Bulldogs made a concerted effort to run the Panther shooters off the three-point line, figuring with his team’s height, it would be difficult for the Panthers to convert inside. The Bulldogs also applied pressure to the Powell guards as they brought the ball up.

If there was any doubt about the outcome of the game, the Bulldogs quashed any Powell hopes by dominating the third quarter 17-6 to lead 57-25 after three as Matthew Newman scored 10 points, thriving in the Lovell fast break. Powell edged Lovell 12-11 in the fourth as the Bulldogs emptied the bench with about 5½ minutes left.

Durtsche was glad to see his team play a complete game, strong for 32 minutes, noting that he wasn’t pleased with the team’s second-half performance against Worland the previous week, saying, “It left a bad taste in my mouth.”

Walker finished with 19 points, Anderson 18, Newman 14, Wilson 11, Owen Edwards 4 and Sam Mayes 2. Walker led the team with 13 rebounds, four steals and four blocks, and Anderson grabbed 10 rebounds, Wilson nine. Newman led the team with five assists.

Revenge game

After falling to the Thermopolis Bobcats 48-41 in a lackluster performance in Thermop during the Big Horn Basin Classic on January 16, the Bulldogs have been looking forward to the rematch at home on Saturday afternoon.

After a close first half, the Bulldogs pulled away from the tall and talented Bobcats in the second half to win by 25 points.

Though the Powell game was important as a conference matchup, the Bulldogs have had the Thermop game circled on the calendar, Durtsche said.

“We really wanted to show them, and I guess the state, that in that first game, that’s not who we are,” he said. “So we definitely had that one circled. They’d beaten us two years in a row at their place, and both times we just did not feel like we were even a shell of ourselves. And that’s not a knock on them. That’s a good basketball team. But we did not come out as a team either time with the energy and intensity it takes.

“I was just really disappointed the first go around with our lack of willingness to compete, but we totally came out and redeemed ourselves. I was very pleased with the boys and the way they responded.”

Durtsche said he blames himself, in part, for the team’s effort in Thermop, noting, “I overanalyze things. I played too conservatively. I didn’t make in-game changes to try to create energy. I just kept thinking we were going to find it. And so I did not do a good job. And I let the kids know that.”

The two top-ranked teams – Lovell in 3A and Thermop in 2A – traded blows in the first quarter. An early three-pointer by Thermop’s Zak Hastie was matched by Walker, and after the visitors went up 8-3 on a spinning drive by Cody Bomengen and a trey by Brody Welch, Lovell countered with a drive and jumper by Edwards and a trey by Anderson in transition on a pass from Newman. After an exchange of baskets, the teams were deadlocked 10-10 at the first quarter break.

The Bulldogs took charge in the second quarter, launching a 16-2 run to lead 26-12 as Edwards and Anderson scored 5 points each, Newman 4. Thermop did put together an 8-0 run before a power follow shot by Wilson gave Lovell a 28-20 halftime lead.

The second half was all Lovell. Playing his best game this season, Edwards scored 10 points in the third quarter as Lovell outscored Thermop 16-6 to lead 44-26, and the Bulldogs won the fourth 18-11 to win by 25 points, 62-37. Newman scored 7 points in the fourth and had two steals, hitting Walker for a deuce on one of the thefts. Senior Jaxen Clark had a pair of baskets, as well.

Edwards finished with a career high 20 points, and Newman added 15, Anderson 10, Walker 9, Clark and Wilson 4 each. Wilson added 14 rebounds and three blocked shots, Walker six rebounds and three blocks. Newman tallied five rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. Anderson had four assists.

Durtsche had praise for Newman for his energy, calling the senior point guard “the engine behind us,” and he praised Edwards for playing perhaps the best game of his career on both ends of the court. He also noted the strong rebounding of Wilson.

Finally, Durtsche praised Anderson for his defense guarding Bobcat star Bomengen and Powell’s Taeson Schultz on Thursday, holding Bomengen to 9 points and Schultz to 2.

Home games

Now 13-2 overall and 3-0 in the 3A West, the Bulldogs will host a pair of 3A Southwest foes this weekend, taking on Pinedale Friday at 4 (JV) and 7 p.m. and third-ranked Lander Saturday at 11:30 a.m. (freshman), 1 p.m. (JV) and 4 p.m. (varsity) with all three games at Winterholler Gym to allow the younger players to play at the high school when JV games are usually at the middle school.

Pinedale is 8-6 after upsetting Lander (10-4) in a conference contest Friday night, 59-55.

“Pinedale is capable. They get hot,” Durtsche said. “They’ve got some shooters. They’ve got some kids that can fill it up, including another Gosar (Matthew, a junior, 22.2 points per game). He’s a nice player. They’ve got kids that will play hard, and again, they like to fire the three. They’ll get up and down. They’ll play aggressively. So if they shoot well, they pose a problem.

“Lander is a very good basketball team this year. They can score from all five positions. They can get really hot. They run good actions, they try to get you off the dribble, and they move the ball pretty well. Defensively, I don’t know what we’ll see, but Lander is a very capable, scary team. I think they’ve got a lot of talent.”