Grizz fall to Thermop, look forward to Regionals

As they look toward the regional tournament, the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies got a good taste of post-season style basketball Friday as they battled the top-ranked Thermopolis Bobcats in Thermop.

Thermopolis won the game 55-35, but Rocky coach Pat Winland said the Grizzlies were competitive and gave the Bobcats a run.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game, and the fact that we were battling a little sickness didn’t help. I hope that has run its course,” Winland said. “They had (center) Brody Potter back. He’s a big kid, so he was a tough matchup for us. The Bomengen kid (Cody) is the real deal.”

Thermop built a 19-9 lead by the end of the first quarter, and Rocky edged the home team 10-9 in the second to trail 8-19 at halftime. Thermop led 38-5 after three and outscored the Grizz 17-10 in the final quarter to win by 20.

“We kept it competitive through the middle of the third quarter, within range by eight to 10 points, and then Bomengen hit three threes at the end of the third and early in the fourth. That kind of blew the game open.

“I felt a lot better about this game than when we played them at home (a 52-30 loss),” Winland said. “I feel we were more intense and more competitive. It was a great atmosphere, a great, loud crowd. That’s just what we need going into Riverton.”

Rocky actually out-shot Thermop 45.5 percent to 42.6 percent and hit six of 17 three-point attempts. But 22 turnovers hurt the Grizzly cause, leading to 23 Bobcat points.

Cole Minchow led the Grizzlies with 15 points, and Lafe Files added 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Alex Hedges scored 4 points and pulled down six rebounds. Tucker Jackson and Joaquin Scheeler scored 2 points each, Cooper Winland and Evin Clendenen 1 apiece.

“Lafe played one of his better games of the year,” Winland said. “He had great shot selection and did a good job rebounding.”

Junior varsity

Thermopolis also won the junior varsity game 53-44 in overtime. Rocky led 28-20 at halftime, but Thermop outscored the Grizz 20-4 in the third quarter to lead 40-32. Rocky won the fourth 12-4 to send the game into overtime tied 44-44, but the Grizz ran out of steam in overtime, outscored 9-0.

Scheeler led the Grizz with 14 points, and Clendenen and Kellan Jackson added 9 each, Winland 6, Jaxson Miller 4 and Travis Crosby 2.

Regional tourney

The Grizz (10-11) are off to the 2A West Regional Tournament today (Thursday) in Riverton, and as the number two seed from the north will take on third seeded (south) Kemmerer (6-16) at 5 p.m. at Riverton Middle School.

“They will play man to man and a little 1-3-1 (zone),” Winland said. “We will look to press and push the tempo. We have to keep them off the boards and limit their second shots. They have a couple of kids who shoot a decent percentage from three-point range. We’ll need to know where they’re at.”

The Rangers are led by guard Bryce McGill at 10.3 points per game and forward Gabe Wiswell at 10.1 ppg.

Win or lose, the Grizzlies will play either Big Piney (#1 Southwest) or Greybull (#4 Northwest) in the second round on Friday at Riverton High School: 7:30 p.m. with a win over Kemmerer or 1 p.m. with a loss.

“Our focus is going to be 90 percent on Kemmerer,” Winland said. “We’ll look at Big Piney, too. We already know what Greybull is about.”