Rocky Mtn. Lady Grizz end 2025 schedule with tough opponents at Shoshoni

The Rocky Mountain varsity girls basketball team closed out its 2025 schedule on the road last weekend at the Wrangler Invitational in Shoshoni, facing a challenging slate of opponents while continuing to adjust to playing without senior leader Lauren Bassett, who remains sidelined with a hand injury.

Over three games, the Lady Grizz picked up one win and two losses, but head coach Justin Moss said the weekend offered valuable lessons for a young roster stepping into expanded roles.

Lyman 46, Rocky Mountain 33

Rocky Mountain opened tournament play Friday afternoon against Lyman and came out with strong energy on the defensive end, building a 12–7 lead after the first quarter. Lyman responded in the second, outscoring the Grizzlies 10–7 to narrow the margin to 19–17 at halftime.

The game remained within reach deep into the second half. Rocky Mountain trailed by just 4 points with about six minutes remaining before a stretch of mistakes allowed Lyman to pull away late.

“We were down 4 with about six minutes left, and we made a few young mistakes,” head coach Justin Moss said. “We were late on some closeouts and had a few fouls on critical possessions that put us in a hole.”

Rocky Mountain improved on the glass in the second half but struggled to consistently pressure the rim, a factor Moss said contributed to a large free-throw disparity.

“We did a better job rebounding but didn’t attack the rim like we should, which led to the disparity in foul shots,” Moss said. Rocky Mountain attempted 12 free throws compared to Lyman’s 23.

Halle Grandalen led the Lady Grizz with a strong interior performance, posting a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Despite forcing 16 turnovers and grabbing nine offensive rebounds, Rocky Mountain shot 28 percent from the field and went 4-of-12 at the free-throw line in the loss.

Rocky Mountain 57, Upton 39

The Lady Grizz bounced back Saturday morning with their most complete performance of the weekend, defeating Upton 57–39 behind pressure defense and timely scoring. Rocky Mountain led 14–10 after the first quarter and stretched the advantage to 38–27 by halftime.

“We found a little something with our pressure defense that got us going,” Moss said. “It was fun to get a little traction in this one playing a different style than we have previously done.”

The game turned midway through the fourth quarter when Rocky Mountain created separation with a flurry of defensive stops and transition baskets. With 3:20 remaining, Sawyer Bassett made two free throws after being fouled in transition following a slick pass from Keylee Christiansen. Two possessions later, Christiansen knocked down a 3-pointer assisted by Kaysie Cooley. Cooley followed with a steal and layup, then assisted Avery Thomas on another transition basket. A Grandalen steal and Cooley layup pushed the Lady Grizz lead to 11 and effectively sealed the win.

Cooley turned in one of her strongest performances of the season, leading all scorers with 21 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and four steals.

“Kaysie had one of her best games of the season, mixing in attacking as well as shooting from deep,” Moss said.

Grandalen added another double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Sawyer Bassett contributed 6 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Thomas scored 7 points, with Christiansen and Layla Gardner adding 5 points apiece. Rocky Mountain finished with 48 rebounds and went 16-of-27 from the free-throw line.

Despite missing Lauren Bassett, the Lady Grizz found rhythm on both ends of the floor.

“Lauren is a big part of what we do on both sides of the ball. We miss her,” Moss said. “I told the team if we are going to be the best version of ourselves then we need to keep improving each week.”

Cokeville 63, Rocky Mountain 42

Rocky Mountain closed tournament play Saturday afternoon against a fast and experienced Cokeville team that capitalized early with transition scoring and strong post play. Cokeville jumped out to an 18–9 first-quarter lead and extended it to 40–18 by halftime.

“We struggled with the speed of Cokeville and struggled in the post,” Moss said. “We are a young team, and they exposed some of our weaknesses in transition as well as post defense.”

The Lady Grizz responded with improved play after the break, matching Cokeville 16–16 in the third quarter and outscoring them 15–7 in the fourth.

Cooley once again led Rocky Mountain with 19 points, knocking down four three-pointers and going 5-of-8 from the free-throw line. Grandalen finished with 8 points and 9 rebounds, while Sawyer Bassett added 7 points. Gardner scored 5 points and Charlee Welling tallied 1.

Moss said the tournament showed encouraging development from underclassmen, particularly freshman Sawyer Bassett.

“Freshman Sawyer Bassett is emerging as a solid rotation player for us,” Moss said. “This weekend she averaged over 6 points per game and averaged 7 rebounds per game. She is starting to understand our system and is beginning to be more comfortable with what we do.”

Looking ahead

The Lady Grizz now enter a holiday break with limited on-court time before returning to competition in January. Moss said the pause will be beneficial for a young team still refining its identity.

“We are looking forward to the break where we will get to practice and address some of these issues,” he said. “We have a couple shoot-arounds this week, but we aren’t going to do much until the week after Christmas.

“I think it’s beneficial to take a few days off, reset and prepare for the bulk of our season. We will fine tune our sets, get into better condition and implement more of our offense and defense.”

Rocky Mountain returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 8, with junior varsity and varsity games on the road at Powell High School, then hosts Lovell Friday, Jan. 9.