Playing better ball, Grizz crush TR, battle Wyoming Indian

The Rocky Mountain Grizzlies are stepping up their game and coming together as the playoffs approach in two weeks.

Friday, the Grizz traveled to Dayton and clobbered the Tongue River Eagles 54-25. Saturday at home, the Grizzlies battled second-ranked Wyoming Indian and dropped a hard-fought contest, 62-50.

“We just seem to be getting better every weekend,” head coach Pat Winland said. “Cooper (Winland) is starting to assert himself offensively a little bit more, and it’s nice to see, and when Mason (Moss) is struggling shooting, he steps up and he does a lot of other things for our team, like rebounds and assists. I just think week by week the kids are getting better and better in their roles.”

Winland said the Grizz started the game with an alley-oop dunk by Moss on a pass from Kellan Jackson and a back screen by Evin Clendenen and went on to lead 12-4 at the end of the first quarter.

“We got off to a great start with the alley-oop to Mason. It’s a play we’ve been working on in practice that we ran to perfection against Tongue River,” Winland said. “I was really nervous going into that game, because I had watched them play the night before against Big Horn, and they kept it really competitive in the first half. But our kids weren’t fazed. They came out and probably had one of our best defensive performances of the year.”

TR shot just 25.6 percent from the field against the Grizzly defense.

Rocky outscored Tongue River 11-4 in the second quarter to lead 23-8 at halftime, then poured it on in the second half, winning the third quarter 15-8 and the fourth 16-9 to win by 29 points.

After the initial flush, Moss struggled shooting the ball a bit (5-14), Winland noted, but he played shutdown defense against Eagle leading scorer Kenyonn Snell. Snell came into the game averaging 12.6 points per game but did not score a point against Moss and the Grizzlies.

“He (Snell) really had a tough time getting his shot off against Mason,” Winland noted.

On offense, the Grizzlies knocked down seven three-pointers in the game, three by Jaxon Hayes and two by Winland.

“They played us zone the whole game, and we just picked out their weak spots and used them to our advantage,” Winland said. “They were not coming out on the baseline. Their bottom guy wasn’t coming out, so from the corner it was just catch and shoot. They just were not coming out on the wing. You could tell they were trying to pack it inside.”

Winland led the Grizzlies with 14 points, hitting six of eight shots from the field. Moss added 11 points, Hayes 9, Jackson 8, Clendenen 6 and Jaxson Miller, Cooper Ward and Jaxx May 2 apiece.

Clendenen finished with nine rebounds, Moss seven boards and five assists. Jackson snared six caroms, May five and Miller four. Miller and Winland tallied three assists each.

Wyoming Indian

Rocky Mountain battled traditional rival Wyoming Indian tooth and nail for much of the game Saturday. Trailing 7-4 midway through the first quarter, the Grizz took the lead as Winland hit one of two at the foul line and drained a turnaround jumper, followed by a trey by Moss. Rocky led 10-7, but WIHS came back to lead 12-11 after one.

The Chiefs built a 19-11 lead in the second quarter, but a power spin move by Winland and a trey by Moss launched a 12-2 run that put the Grizz up 23-21. A steal and dunk by Moss gave Rocky a 25-23 lead a minute later, but a bucket by WIHS senior LaDainian Brown tied the score 25-25 at halftime.

The two teams traded baskets in the third quarter until a late push by the Chiefs gave them a 41-38 lead at the quarter break. They pulled ahead in the fourth and outscored the Grizz 21-12 to win 62-50, a score that was not indicative of how closely contested the game was.

“From the end of the third to, like, the first three minutes of the fourth, it seems like every turnover we had, they converted into points,” Winland noted. “And as we know, Wyoming Indian goes on those six- to eight-point runs just like that, and it was hard for us to claw back into it.”

Rocky actually shot the ball better than Wyoming Indian, 60 percent to 46 percent, but the Chiefs scored 31 points off 24 RMHS turnovers.

Winland scored 20 points for the Grizz, Moss 19, Hayes 5, Clendenen 4 and Jackson 2. Moss pulled down eight rebounds, Winland four. Hayes, Winland and Jackson had three assists each.

Home finale

The Grizzlies (9-11, 2-1 in the 2A West) are down to their last three games before the regional tournament. Friday, they travel to Greybull to take on the Buffalos at 4 (JV) and 7 p.m. Saturday, they host Shoshoni with tap times at 1:30 and 4:30 p.m.

Rocky swept Greybull and Shoshoni on January 23-24, stopping the Buffs at home, 50-38, then beating Shoshoni on the road the following day, 53-46.

Winland said he expects a battle from the Buffs at home Friday.

“It’s never easy playing at their place,” the coach said. “Caden Hunt can shoot it, and Carter Jacobs is their leading scorer. They beat Burlington, Tongue River and Riverside. They played Big Horn close this last weekend.”

“Shoshoni is probably still adjusting to the loss of their point guard, Andrew Garcia, who broke his leg against Wyoming Indian Thursday. That’ll hurt them for sure.”

The Grizz travel to Thermopolis for the final regular season game on February 20.