Grizzlies battle but fall to top teams

Though not necessarily evident by the scores, the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies played some of their best basketball of the season over the weekend at home, hosting and falling to two of the top three teams in the state.

The Grizz fell to Class 2A number one Thermopolis on Friday, 70-40, then lost to third-ranked Big Horn on Saturday, 58-48. The Grizzlies were neck and neck with both foes well into the second half.

“We definitely improved over the weekend,” Rocky head coach Pat Winland said. “Despite the Thermop score, the game was a lot closer than it showed. We’re starting to be where we need to be heading into the end of the season with kids knowing their roles and being good teammates.

“With Thermop, we’ve always talked about playing with those ‘tier one’ teams, to make them earn it. We probably just ran out of gas late third quarter, early fourth quarter, and we felt with Big Horn we were right there. I challenged the kids to get into that tier two level of 2A.”

The tall and talented Thermop Bobcats jumped out to a 7-3 lead, but the Grizz quickly tied the score as Mason Moss drove the length of the court for two, then drained a three-pointer. The two teams traded baskets before the visitors took a 14-13 lead at the quarter break.

Thermop extended the lead to eight points in the second quarter, but the Grizzlies hung tough, outscoring the Bobcats 7-2 down the stretch to cut the deficit to three points, 26-23, at halftime.

“Despite the immense pressure they were applying, the kids handled it well,” Winland said. “We made a little adjustment with Cooper (Winland) having to do more of the ball handling, which he did OK at. We didn’t get as rattled when they would run off a few points here and there; we would fight back. I decided to play zone most of the game. We don’t match up with them athletically.”

A power spin move by Winland cut the Thermop lead to one, 26-25, in the first minute of the third quarter, but the Bobcats increased their defensive pressure and started jumping passing lanes for steals, converting six turnovers into baskets in the quarter and outscoring the Grizz 20-11 to lead 46-34 after three.

“I just thought they did a better job of getting in our passing lanes,” Winland said. “And we didn’t adapt very well to it. It was tough for our kids to adjust to that game speed. Cooper had to play a little point, so he’s playing out of position most of the game, because they were really dogging Mason.”

The fourth quarter was all Thermop as the Bobcats outscored Rocky 24-6 including the final 12 points of the game against the Grizzly substitutes. Thermop went home with a 70-40 win.

“I think we made them work harder than they were expecting,” Winland noted. “But they’re a veteran squad, and they handled their business.”

Thermop shot 45.8 percent from the field, Rocky 38.7 percent, and the Bobcats scored 39 points off 27 Rocky turnovers.

Moss led the Grizz with 17 points, and Winland joined him in double figures with 12. Kellan Jackson and Evin Clendenen added 4 points each, Jaxx May 3. Moss tallied 10 rebounds and four steals. Jackson snared five rebounds.

Big Horn

The Grizz battled third-ranked Big Horn tooth and nail on Saturday afternoon. After the visiting Rams took an early 9-4 lead, the Grizz reeled off 9 straight points to lead 13-9 as Jaxson Miller scored 5 points, Moss 4, each draining a trey. Big Horn came back to lead 17-13 at the quarter break.

An 11-0 Grizzly run in the second quarter put the Grizz up 28-22, and the home team led 28-24 at halftime.

The Grizz continued to play well in the third quarter. Clendenen scored on a bank shot, and Winland hit Moss for two. After a Big Horn trey, Clendenen drove for two and Winland scored on a power bank shot as Rocky built a 36-27 lead.

And then Gus McLaughlin happened.

The sophomore reserve came off the bench to score 14 straight points for the Rams in the final four minutes of the third quarter as Big Horn rallied to take a 41-38 lead after three. The Grizz came back to lead 44-43 early in the fourth, but a 7-0 run put Big Horn back on top 50-44. A pair of baskets by Moss kept the Grizz close at 52-48, but Big Horn scored the final 6 points of the game to win by 10, 58-48.

“We were executing our pick and roll offense really well, and they made some adjustments to that,” Winland said. “They had a kid come off the bench that probably we weren’t expecting to score a lot (McLaughlin), who hit some three pointers, which gave them a spark. And then I think we just ran out of gas. I need to do a better job of putting us in position to score when we have those droughts.”

Moss led the Grizz with 21 points, five assists and four steals, and Winland added 9 points and a team high seven boards and three blocks. Clendenen tallied 10 points and four rebounds. Miller scored 5 points, Jackson 3. 

Despite the losses, Winland said the Grizz are trending in the right direction.

“I’ve got a lot of good comments about how the kids are playing team basketball and stuff,” he said. “And they’re starting to gel just at the right time, but we’re heading into another tough weekend.”

Coming up

The Grizzlies will make the trip to Dayton Friday to meet the Tongue River Eagles. Tongue River is 1-15 and fell to the Grizz 56-35 on the first weekend of the season. The Eagles’ top scorer is Kenyonn Snell, who scores 12.2 points per game. Tip-off times are 4 (JV) and 7 p.m.

Saturday’s schedule brings a traditional rival to town as the Grizz host second-ranked Wyoming Indian at 12 and 3 p.m. The Chiefs come in 17-2 and beat Thermopolis earlier in the season.

Wyoming Indian lost Paylayne Ferris for the season (13.7 points per game) but recently got Cordell Spoonhunter back from injury, and he has scored at a 21.3 ppg clip. The Chiefs’ leading scorer is Heeyei’Niitou Monroe-Black at 21.5 points per game. The Chiefs average 71 points per game as a team and play eight seniors, Winland said.