Double weekend wins for the Lady Grizz

The Rocky Mountain Lady Grizz fought for back-to-back wins against Greybull and Shoshoni on Friday and Saturday. Head coach Justin Moss said that it was obvious all week in practice that the girls were locked in again and ready to play a strong game going into conference play.
The Lady Grizz started off strong at Greybull Friday with junior Brittly Boettcher hitting a three-pointer from the top of the key and another jumper from the right wing early in the game, Moss said. While Boettcher got the game started, the defense kept the game going.
“It was the defensive intensity that I noticed from the start. We were flying around, deflecting almost every pass that Greybull threw,” he said. “Tarynn Schoening led us with six deflections, and MacKelle Moss had four.”
Rocky’s defense forced 33 turnovers in the game.
Rocky ended the first quarter with a 15-4 lead over Greybull, maintaining that lead to the half where they led 28-12. Sophomore Lauren Bassett led the team in scoring with 14 points. Junior Schoening and Boettcher followed with 8 points. Freshman Kaysie Cooley scored 6, Shelby Wambeke 5, Moss 4 and Keylee Christiansen 2.
“Tarynn Schoening had one of her best games of the season, scoring 8 points in addition to her six deflections, three steals and two blocks,” Moss said. “She also only had two turnovers in the game, which is pretty solid as one of our primary ball handlers.”
Other notable stats included 10 rebounds from Bassett and four steals from Boettcher.
“The highlight of the game was executing the press,” Moss said. “Executing a good press requires a lot of trust that your teammates will follow through and do their jobs, as well.”
The game ended with a 47-28 Rocky victory. Moss said that getting back into conference play in the first game of the weekend was great, and it’s always one of the most enjoyable parts of the season.
A point of improvement for that game was the dominant scoring of Greybull player Perla Rodriguez, who scored 12 of Greybull’s 28 points. Next time Rocky plays Greybull, Moss said they will do a better job of covering Rodriguez.
Rocky-Shoshoni
For the second game of the weekend at home against Shoshoni, Coach Moss was not letting up on the Grizzly girls.
“We challenged our girls to come out the second day with the same intensity as we did the first,” he said.
Defensively, the team was able to come at the second game with the same intensity, but they lacked in their offensive game, Moss said. There were a few turnovers instead of a couple buckets during the game, he said.
Bassett led in scoring with 12 points, followed by Moss with 10, Cooley 9, Christiansen 3, senior Rylee Winland, junior Elliahna Scheeler and Schoening 2 apiece.
Cooley was a “spark off the bench,” which Moss said was a highlight of the game. With Cooley and the two leading scorers, Rocky was able to score many baskets, regaining their offensive game, Moss said.
“I was again impressed with our defense. We have made it an emphasis that our defense doesn’t end until we rebound the basketball, and it has been evident in our play,” Moss said. “Both our posts and our guards have done a good job of rebounding the basketball.”
Rocky ended the game with a 40-14 victory against Shoshoni.
Coming up
The Lady Grizz will continue conference play Friday, traveling to Pavillion to meet Wind River at 5:30 p.m. (JVs at 4), then host 2A Northeast foe Big Horn Saturday at 1:30 and 3 p.m.