Mustang cagers near season end

The Lovell Middle School boys basketball squads are zeroing in on conference tournaments as the regular season winds down.
The seventh grade A team faced off against Cody last Tuesday in Cody, finishing with a 29-23 win. Reigo Romero led the team with 12 points, and Weston Hendershot scored 9, Mason Leithead 4 and Mac Morgan and Kannon Owens 2 apiece.
Hosting Thermopolis Thursday, the seventh grade A team fell 36-32. Mac Morgan led the Mustangs with 16 points, and Romero added 5, Owens 4, Hendershot 3, Easton Morgan and Michael Cornia 2 each.
The seventh grade B team lost to Thermopolis 30-28. Jasper Lopez, Zavier Heater, Harper Morgan, Evan Rusch and Cornia scored 4 points each, Oscar Garcia, Zander Stahl, Chris Carabay and Andy Entel 2 apiece.
Monday at Powell, the Lovell A team won 42-30. Owens and Romero scored 16 and 11 points, respectively, to lead the team, and Mac Morgan added 6, Leithead, Easton Morgan and Hayden Workman 3 each.
The B team fell to Powell 25-23. Garcia scored 8, Workman 5, Harper Morgan and Heater 4, and Stahl 2.
“We had a frustrating loss against Thermop,” coach Collin McArthur said. “We had the game and ended up losing it, but the boys came back and beat Powell. It’s good now that they can have a loss and hopefully we can avoid that in conference and use it for motivation to beat them.”
Eighth grade
The eighth-grade Mustangs faced off against Thermopolis on the road Thursday, losing 38-31.
“I was really happy with our effort and grit,” coach Steven Durtsche said. “Thermopolis is the number one team in our conference, and we battled with them until the final buzzer went off. Dallin Bischoff hit four threes in the game to give us an offensive scoring boost. He ended with 12 points.”
The B team lost 14-13, and there was only half of a B game played.  
Facing Powell at home Monday, the eighth grade A team lost 36-31.
“We played another tough game and were winning for three quarters,” Durtsche said, “but we just couldn’t quite put a complete game together. The boys played hard, and I felt like we played our best game as a team this season. Everyone chipped in and made some big plays.
“We struggled a little bit from the free throw line in the game, and that ended up being the difference between a win and lose. We shot 3-16 from the free throw line.”
The B team beat Powell 25-19. Kade Durtsche led the scoring with 8 points.
The A teams are off this weekend, but the B squads will travel to play in B team jamborees with the seventh graders in Lander and the eighth graders in Riverton.