Lady Grizz nab top seed despite loss at Thermop

The Rocky Mountain Lady Grizzlies fell short of their goal to sweep 2A Northwest conference games with a 44-39 loss at Thermopolis Friday night, but they will still be a number one seed heading into the regional tournament, which begins today (Thursday) in Riverton.

Rocky had defeated Thermopolis 50-40 at home on January 31, but it was a different story Friday on the road.

Thermop led 9-6 after the first quarter, but Rocky won the second 11-9 to trail by just one point at halftime, 18-17.

“We started off kind of slow,” coach Justin Moss said. “We turned the ball over too much in the first quarter and seemed to play from behind throughout the game.”

Thermop drained a three-pointer to start the third quarter and boosted the lead to four points, and the Lady Bobcats went on to outscore Rocky 17-11 in the quarter to lead 35-28 after three. Rocky pulled close to trail 35-34 and ultimately edged Thermop 11-9 in the fourth quarter but couldn’t complete the comeback.

Moss said junior Lauren Bassett went to town against the Bobcats in the third quarter, working well inside, but the Lady Grizz found themselves trading two points for three against the hot shooting home team.

“We did a good job keeping their leading scorers in check, but Hanna Hill hit four three-pointers in the game and Camryn Farrell hit two others,” Moss said. “They shot well, though we were a little slow in our rotations and got stuck in some hammer screens.

“They were physical. It was a super physical game. We average 17 free throws a game and only shot nine Friday.”

Bassett led the team with 13 points and eight rebounds, and Brittly Boettcher added 10 points, Tarynn Schoening 8 points, Keylee Christiansen 6 and Shelby Wambeke 2. Wambeke finished with six rebounds and four assists.

Regional tournament

The Lady Grizzlies (15-6) will meet fourth-seeded Kemmerer (7-15) at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Riverton High School in the first round of the 2A West Regional Tournament.

“Kemmerer has been playing better basketball,” Moss said. “They’ve won three of their last five games and beat Thermop twice. They play good defense and have three starters back from last year’s team.”

Moss said the Lady Rangers are led by Janae Skidmore at 14.5 points per game and Ella Thatcher at 7 ppg. Natasha Martinez is a quick guard, he said.

The Lady Grizz will meet either Big Piney or Greybull in the second round, playing in the semifinals at 3 p.m. Friday or at 8:30 a.m. in a loser-out game. All Friday games are played at the high school.

“If we do what we do and do it well, we’ll be in great shape this weekend,” Moss said. “It’s all about us.”