Lady Grizz struggle to 0-3 at Big Horn Basin Classic

The Rocky Mountain Lady Grizz had a rough weekend, going winless on their home court as they played host to the Big Horn Basin Classic.

“It was a tough week with not all of our girls available and a bunch of sickness,” head coach Justin Moss noted. “It was a perfect storm for our opponents.”

On Friday, the Lady Grizz started slow and couldn’t quite match the physicality of Worland in their opening match as they fell to the Lady Warriors 41-24.

“We needed to play fast but we were stuck in the mud after the first two quarters,” Moss said. “We struggled to get things going. We made some young mistakes, and I think that led to our older girls putting too much pressure on themselves to carry the load.”

Lauren Bassett led the offensive drive, scoring 11 points. Rylee Winland and MacKelle Moss added 6 each while Keylee Christiansen ended with 1. 

The Lady Grizz were hoping to bounce back against Burlington later that afternoon but had a similar slow start.

“We were slow with our feet and didn’t get to their shooters quick enough in our zone, and it resulted in us quickly being down by 17 going in at half,” Moss said.

Rocky Mountain regrouped and came out with stronger force in the third quarter. They were able to score 16 points in the third quarter and close the gap to within 10.

“I liked our resolve,” Moss said of the spark that was fueled by a Shelby Wambeke three, a high-low shot by Bassett that was assisted by Moss, a couple free throws by Christiansen and another bucket by Bassett that turned into a 9-0 run coming out of the half. 

“Coach Haslam is a good coach, and they have improved quite a bit since we played them last,” Moss said of Burlington. “However, it was tough to lose after beating them earlier in the year. But it was good for some of our younger girls to be able to get those court time opportunities.”

Bassett finished with 16 points, Wambeke 8, Moss 6, Kaysie Cooley 4, Christiansen 2 and Winland 1.

Saturday morning, the Lady Grizz faced their crosstown opponents from Lovell.

“By the time we got to Lovell, our girls were physically and emotionally spent,” Moss explained. “Their pressure led to 28 turnovers combined with several other factors.”

Christiansen led the way with 9 points, and Cooley scored 7, Moss 5, and Wambeke and Bassett had 3 while Layla Gardner and Winland had 2.

“This weekend was a difficult one,” Moss evaluated. “However, it was good to see some of our younger girls get some opportunities and get their feet underneath them. Those early varsity experiences are sometimes things that we need to just get out of the way so we can learn to become who we are going to be.

“At the end of the day, I hope we get stronger from it, and we are looking forward to getting back to conference play this week.”

JV game

The Lady Grizz junior varsity fell to Worland in the tournament, 23-16. 

“Obviously, it was a low scoring game. Our defense was great the whole time, and it was tight until the very end,” JV Coach Ryan Boettcher said. “We just didn’t put enough points on the board to get the win, but the girls have had great effort all season.”

Conference games

The Lady Grizz will jump into conference games this weekend, traveling to Greybull Friday for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off (JVs at 4), then hosting Shoshoni Saturday at 3 p.m. (JVs at 1:30).

Greybull is 2-10 on the season so far, Shoshoni 6-3. The Lady Grizz have played to an 8-5 record.