Lady Grizzlies off to busy start to 2024 season
The Rocky Mountain Middle School Lady Grizz girls basketball team jumped into the 2024 season in a big way, playing three opponents in five days.
The Lady Grizz opened the season in Burlington Thursday, winning one of three games. The A team topped the Huskies 25-24 after trailing 19-15 after three quarters and outscoring the home team 10-5 in the fourth. Sawyer Bassett scored 17 points, Taylor Grandalen 6 and Daizy Weinand 2.
“We got a gritty win against Burlington to start the season off,” head coach Taylor Winland said. “It was a back-and-forth game till the very end. Kudos to the girls for taking the gut punch in the third quarter and battling back and making key plays to win the game.”
Burlington took the B game 28-11. Kinli Bitton led the Lady Grizz with 5 points, and Kate Crosby, Kielley Brimhall and Tianna Christiansen added 2 apiece.
Burlington also won the C game 22-16. Crosby scored 6 for Rocky Mountain, Paisley Malson and Christiansen 4 each, Lauren Hedges 2.
The Lady Grizz took to the road again on Saturday, traveling to Thermopolis. Rocky dropped the A game 51-21, the B game 15-4 and the C game 25-21 for a Thermop sweep.
“In our game against Thermop we struggled to find the basket,” Winland said. “The girls never stopped playing hard, no matter the score. Credit to Thermop on their stingy defense and their shot making. They have a lot of girls who can shoot the ball.”
Grandalen scored 11 points for Rocky Mountain in the A game, Bassett 10. Christiansen scored 3 points in the B game, Bitton 1. Bitton led the scoring in the C game with 7, and Presli Moss and Brimhall added 4 each, Hedges, Millie Hanusa and Malson 2 apiece.
“Our B and C girls have been working hard in practice and trying to figure out what works best on our offense and defense,” Winland said. “We are still plugging away to get our plays down and trying to find ways to score. As the games go on, we are figuring out rotations that work. The girls never stopped battling and will get ready to go for next week at Meeteetse.”
The Lady Grizzlies got their first taste of home cooking Monday when they hosted Ten Sleep for a single game, winning 23-17. Bassett led the way with 15 points, and Grandalen added 6, Weinand 2.
“The Ten Sleep game was a good game for us before we head into a week break before our next game,” Winland said. “We were able to mix up our defenses and got a lot of open looks offensively. Everyone played their role that resulted in a great win.”
The Lady Grizz are off this weekend and have just a single opponent next Tuesday, playing in Meeteetse at 4:30 p.m.