Rocky freshmen split opening trio of games

The Rocky Mountain C (mostly freshmen) boys squad started their season strong with a 52-36 win over Riverside in Basin on January 6 but dropped a pair of games at Greybull and Burlington this week.

The Grizzlies came out strong and led Riverside 14-7 by the end of the first quarter last Tuesday. The Rebels cut into the lead by outscoring Rocky 12-8 in the second quarter to leave the Grizz up 22-19 at intermission, but Rocky pulled away by outscoring Riverside 13-9 in the second quarter and 17-8 in the fourth win by 16.

Jaxx May had a dominant performance, scoring 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field, and Cooper Ward and Jayden Scheeler joined him in double figures with 10 apiece. Cameron Minchow added 2 points, Lukas Miller 1.

May snared 10 rebounds in the contest, Ward seven, and Miller blocked three shots. Minchow tallied five assists, Scheeler four.

“It was a good first game for our C squad. We came out with good energy and got off to a strong start,” coach Taylor Winland noted. “The boys responded every time Riverside tried to make a run. Jaxx May did a great job using his quickness on defense and scoring, and his teammates did a great job getting him the ball. It was a great team win.”

Monday in Greybull, the Grizzlies fell 42-37. Greybull led 24-23 after three quarters, then outscored the Grizz 18-14 in a high-scoring fourth.

Kreegan Jones led Rocky with 14 points, and Ward added 13, May 5, Scheeler 3 and Miller 2. Minchow pulled down nine rebounds and had four steals in the loss, and May led the team with five assists.

“It was a slow start for both teams,” Winland said. “Greybull was constantly switching its defenses, making it hard to establish a rhythm offensively. We knew it was going to be a tough game, and the boys made Greybull earn the win.”

Tuesday in Burlington, Rocky led the Huskies 15-10 at halftime but struggled in the second half as Burlington outscored the Grizz 34-7 including 12-0 in the third quarter to win 44-22.

Jones scored 7 points, Minchow 6, May 5, Ward 3 and Scheeler 1. Minchow snared seven rebounds, and May and Scheeler had four steals each.

“It was a rough night,” Winland said. “We had a hard time finding the intensity to match Burlington. The boys played tough, but it just wasn’t our night.”

The freshmen will travel to Lovell Tuesday for a 6:15 p.m. tip-off.

JVs

The Rocky Mountain junior varsity squad suffered a pair of losses last week, falling to Powell 48-30 Thursday in Powell and to Lovell at home Friday, 54-15.

Powell jumped out to a 13-4 lead by the end of the first quarter Thursday and gradually pulled away from there. May led the Grizzlies with 9 points, and Miller added 6, Ward and Miller 5 each, Jones 3 and Gary Gardner 2.

Friday, the Grizzlies hung with Lovell early, trailing 10-4 after one, but the Bulldogs outscored the Grizz 18-4 in the second quarter and 14-0 in the third to break the game wide open.

Ward scored 5, Miller and Jones 3 apiece and Minchow and Travis Crosby 2 each. Kannon Owens scored 17 points for Lovell, Aaiden Walker 8, Grant Hill 6, Mac Morgan and Joaquin Scheeler 5 apiece, Sam Mayes 4, Rocco Rael 3 and Weston Hendershot, Kade Durtsche and Kyson Crosby 2 apiece.