Rocky Mountain rebounds strong during second game

Rocky Mountain Girls Basketball faced some close competition this weekend, facing Wind River away on Friday with a loss, but rebounding at home with a win against Big Horn Saturday.
The Lady Grizz started out strong in the game against Wind River, with a steal and a layup by junior Tarynn Schoening and an in-bound shot by senior MacKelle Moss guiding the team to a 4-2 lead.
But Wind River didn’t let up, with junior Natalie Walker sparking on a 6-0 run. After the first quarter, Wind River led 14-11.
Turnovers troubled the Grizz in the second quarter. Head coach Justin Moss said that, although the team struggled throughout the first half of the game, a three pointer by junior Shelby Wambeke brought the Lady Grizz within four at halftime, 20-16.
“We knew we had advantages inside but weren’t able to get it to our posts enough to play inside out basketball,” he said.
After that, two free throws by Wambeke and a power bank shot by sophomore Lauren Bassett tied the score 20-20. After a Wind River basket, Bassett scored two to keep the score tied at 22.
Wind River rebounded quickly, pulling ahead by six. Back-to-back treys by senior Amanda Jenkins led to Wind River leading 38-26 after the third quarter.
“We are a team that likes to play with tempo, but they were able to hurry us in the half court. We took rushed shots and turned it over too many times,” Moss said.
Battling to the wire, the Grizzlies scored 18 points in the fourth quarter, with 10 points at the foul line and two buckets each by Bassett and Moss. Wind River matched the Grizzlies, to pull ahead with a 10 point win, 54-44.
Bassett led the team in scoring with 16 points, and Moss followed with 12. Wambeke scored 8, junior Brittly Boettcher 4, sophmore Keylee Christiansen 2, and junior Schoening 2.
The Lady Grizz has a season high 33 turnovers in the game. Coach Moss said he is going to work on his coaching strategies for future tough competition.
“As a coach, I need to better prepare our girls for that atmosphere and style of play. However, it’s nice that it is the end of January and not the end of February,” he said. “Our girls are hungry and ready to improve.”
On Saturday, the Lady Grizz played Big Horn at home, a team Moss said is much improved.
“They have been playing a lot better the last couple of weeks, and we were coming off a tough loss and a long bus ride,” he said.
The Lady Grizz and the Big Horn Rams went toe to toe, trading baskets in the first half, until the Lady Grizz went on a run three minutes before the half, Moss said. The run began when senior Rylee Winland, assisted by Wambeke, landed a layup.
The run continued with two layups by Bassett on assists by freshman Kaysie Cooley and Wambeke, respectively, another basket by Winland and a left-handed jump hook by Moss at the buzzer to put the Lady Grizz on a 10-0 run to end the half, Moss said.
“I thought the last two and a half minutes of the second quarter and then into the second half the girls started playing better offensively,”  Moss said.
The Lady Grizz continued to maintain a lead through the second half, winning 54-45. Scoring was led by Bassett with 17 points, followed by Wambeke with 12, Cooley with 6, sophomore Christiansen and Moss with 5, Boettcher with 3 and Schoening with 2.
Additionally, Bassett had seven rebounds and Wambeke had five assists.
The next games will be tough, Moss said, with games at number-one ranked Tongue River on Friday and number-two ranked Wyoming Indian at home on Saturday.