Rocky freshmen split with Burlington

Taking on their intra-district rivals, Burlington, the Rocky Mountain freshman basketball squad split a pair of games with the Huskies Tuesday.
The Rocky boys beat Burlington at home in Cowley, 47-33, while the girls fell to the Lady Huskies in Burlington, 49-39.
The Grizz doubled up the Huskies in the first half at home, leading 22-11 at intermission, then edged Burlington 25-22 in the second half.
Joaquin Scheeler led Rocky with 17 points, and Rylan Stebner added 12, Kellan Jackson 8, Jacob Melton 6 and Jaxson Miller 4.
“We put together a great game against Burlington,” coach Taylor Winland said. “Everyone contributed to this win. We had double digit scoring in almost each quarter, which I don’t think we’ve had all season. I challenged the guys to get out of their comfort zone before the game, and they did just that.
“Last time we played Burlington, we had a lead at half and got punched in the mouth the third quarter and couldn’t recover. The difference in this game was that we recovered the third quarter and came out with great intensity.”
In Burlington, the Lady Huskies built a 30-21 halftime lead, then edged Rocky 19-18 in the second half. Kaysie Cooley led the Lady Grizz with 22 points, and Layla Gardner added 7, Halle Grandalen 6, Charlee Welling 3 and Emma Sponsel 1.
“We started out a little slow moving and struggled to get back on defense,” coach Jamie Cooley said. “A few minutes into the game, we started to pick up the pace. We did a great job looking up the floor and moving the ball well on offense.
“We came out the second half with some good energy and played really well. At one point we had their lead down to three. We had a hard time rebounding, giving Burlington multiple chances to score. If we could have controlled the boards, I’m sure we would have had a different outcome.
“These girls played hard and are getting better each week. I love seeing them make gains.”
Rivalry games
The Rocky freshman squads will take on rival Lovell Monday at 6:30 p.m. with the boys game in Cowley and the girls game in Lovell. Tuesday, the Rocky boys will travel to Cody for a 6:15 p.m. tip-off.