Late comebacks plague Grizz in conference losses

By David Peck
There were times of strong basketball during the two conference openers for the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies – but just not enough of them, coach Pat Winland said, as the Grizzlies dropped a pair of games to Greybull and Shoshoni.
In both games, the Grizz were neck and neck with their opponent after three quarters, then faded in the fourth, falling at Greybull Friday night, 42-35, and at home to Shoshoni Saturday afternoon, 50-38.
“We’re right there with our conference opponents,” Winland said. “The little things in every game are the things that are getting us, especially in the second half. Unforced turnovers, not great shot selection and not grabbing that key rebound hurt us.
“I think our defense is OK. Obviously, we need to shore that up in the fourth quarter, but I can live with holding teams to the 40s and 50s.”
Rocky came out strong at Greybull and took a 15-10 lead in the first quarter as Lafe Files scored 7 points, Cole Minchow 5 and Bryce Haslem 3, each knocking down a three-pointer in the opening period.
The Grizz cooled off after that as Greybull fought back to outscore Rocky 9-6 in the second quarter and 6-5 in the third to cut the lead to one, 26-25.
“We got some clean looks early,” Winland said. “After that, from the second to fourth, our shooting kind of went downhill. We were limiting Carlos (Rodriguez) and did a great job on him through three quarters with Hudson (May), Tucker (Jackson) and Lafe, at times.”
Greybull pulled ahead in the fourth quarter and outscored the Grizzlies 17-9 as senior star Rodriguez came alive to score 11 points after being held to 7 points over the first three quarters.
“Carlos showed why he’s an all-state player in the fourth quarter and took the game over,” Winland said, adding, “We’ve got to start making some outside shots.”
Files finished with 13 points to lead the Grizzlies, and Minchow added 10, Jackson 7, Haslem 3 and Max Cooley and Jacob Bischoff 1 apiece. Jackson snared 10 rebounds for the Grizz, Minchow, Cooley and Files five apiece.
ROCKY MTN. (35)
Bryce Haslem 1 0-0 3, Cole Minchow 3 2-3 10, Hudson May 0 0-0 0, Tucker Jackson 3 1-2 7, Noah Johnson 0 0-0 0, Max Cooley 0 1-2 1, Jacob Bischoff 0 1-2 1, Lafe Files 4 4-4 13. Totals 11 9-13 35.
GREYBULL (42)
Caden Hunt 3 2-4 10, Juan Acuna 1 1-2 3, Coby Henderson 1 2-4 4, Isaac Vigil 1 0-0 2, Yandel Hernandez 2 1-4 5, Carlos Rodriguez 6 4-6 18. Totals 14 10-20 42.
Rocky Mtn.    15    6    5    9 – 35
Greybull    10    9    6    17 – 42
Three-point field goals – Minchow 2, Haslem 1, Files 1; Hunt 2, Rodriguez 2. Fouled out – none. Total fouls – Rocky Mtn. 20, Greybull 14.
Home loss
Saturday at home, the Grizzlies played well for three quarters, then fell behind in the fourth to Shoshoni. The Grizz led 10-6 after the first quarter and 24-21 at halftime as Jackson scored 8 points, Minchow 7.
Shoshoni led 33-32 after three quarters and outscored Rocky 17-6 in the fourth quarter to win by 12 points, 50-38.
“This was another frustrating game where we were in control of it and it got away from us in the second half with some costly turnovers and not rebounding well,” Winland said. “Tucker and Bryce were on the bench with four fouls late in the third quarter and early in the fourth. We didn’t have Lafe and Alex (Hedges) and had Tucker with four fouls, so they got inside for layups and offensive rebounds and put-backs. We got tired and didn’t get back a couple of times because of some turnovers.”
Addressing a technical foul he received in the third quarter, Winland noted, “I earned the tech. I was fighting for my kids. I thought the calls and the non-calls changed the complexion of the game. On the other hand, we’ve got to respond better to that situation.”
Jackson led the Grizzlies with 9 points each, and Minchow added 8, Cooley and Bischoff 6 apiece, Haslem and May 4 each and Noah Johnson 1. Jackson led the team with seven rebounds, four steals and four blocked shots.
SHOSHONI (50)
Oakley Hicks 4 2-8 10, Aiden Jarvis 2 0-0 4, Leslie Todd 2 0-0 4, Stetson St. Clair 2 0-0 4, Carson Kisling 1 0-0 3, Quinton Clark 6 6-9 19, Landon Kasper 0 0-0 0, Morgan Neil 1 0-0 3, Braxton Mills 1 0-0 3. Totals 19 8-17 50.
ROCKY MTN. (38)
Bryce Haslem 1 1-2 4, Cole Minchow 3 1-4 8, Hudson May 2 0-0 4, Tucker Jackson 4 1-2 9, Noah Johnson 0 1-2 1, Max Cooley 3 0-0 6, Jacob Bischoff 2 2-4 6. Totals 15 6-14 38.
Shoshoni      6    15    12    17 – 50
Rocky Mtn.    10    14    8    6 – 38
Three-point field goals – Kisling 1, Clark 1, Neil 1, Mills 1; Haslem 1, Minchow 1. Fouled out – Jackson. Total fouls – Shoshoni 18, Rocky Mtn. 20.
Conference and home
The Grizz will continue conference play this Friday when they travel to Pavillion to meet the Wind River Cougars. Like the Grizz, the Cougars are in a rebuilding mode, standing 2-11 on the season,
0-2 in conference play. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. (JVs at 4).
Winland said he’s happy to have a full team for the first time in a few weeks and said Wind River is a key game.
“They’re right there with the (state of the) conference,” he said, noting that the Cougars had big leads against both Shoshoni and Greybull and lost both games last weekend.
“I still think the conference is wide open, but we’ve got to win this week to have a chance,” Winland said. “Hopefully, we’ll have a full squad this week to put our best foot forward.”
The Grizz host 2A Northeast Big Horn Saturday at 1:30 (JV) and 4:30 p.m. The Rams are 9-5 overall, 2-0 in conference play, coming into the weekend and were ranked fifth in the state last week.
“Big Horn is one of the top teams in the state with some great guard play,” Winland said. “They’ve been in the top five all year.”
Junior varsity
The Rocky JVs fell to Greybull Friday evening, 34-18. Trailing 17-5 at halftime, the Grizz outscored the home team 8-5 in the third quarter to trail 22-13, but Greybull won the fourth, 12-5.
Kellan Jackson scored 6 points for the Grizzlies, Joaquin Scheeler and Rylan Stebner 5 each, Jiggs Yellowtail and Hayden Wambeke 1 apiece.
Saturday at home, the JVs fell to Shoshoni 54-36. The Grizz trailed 30-23 at halftime, and Shoshoni pulled away in the second half, 24-13.
Scheeler and Travis Crosby scored 8 points each for the Grizz, Kellan Jackson 7, May 6, Jaxson Miller and Stebner 3 apiece, Yellowtail 1.