Young Grizzlies win one of four

The young Rocky Mountain boys basketball squads met some tough opposition this week and captured one of the four games played.

Playing at home, the RMHS junior varsity team fell to Thermopolis 63-21 Friday and to Big Horn 45-29 Saturday.

Thermop outscored the Grizz in all four quarters Friday including 19-1 in the third. Freshman Jaxx May led the Grizz with 10 points, and Jaxson Sponsel added 6 points, Jaxson Miller 5.

Big Horn jumped on the Grizz 19-8 in the first quarter Saturday and mostly traded baskets after that, edging the Grizzlies 26-21 the rest of the way. May scored 10 points for the home team, Cooper Ward 7, Sponsel 4, Kreegan Jones 3, Jayden Scheeler and Miller 2 each, Gary Gardner 1.

Freshmen

The Rocky freshman/C team hosted Greybull Monday evening and fell to the Buffs 39-28. The Grizz trailed just 29-27 after three quarters, but Greybull pulled away in the fourth, 10-1.

The Grizz were cold in the game, shooting 27 percent from the field and hitting just one of eight free throw attempts.

“We came out to a great start in the first half. I was very pleased with our offense and defense,” coach Taylor Winland said. “The second half was a mix of not being able to make our shots and not controlling the controllables.” 

May scored 15 for the Grizz, Ward 7, Sponsel and Scheeler 2 each, Jones 1 (1 point missing from the stat sheet).

The Grizzly frosh battled Burlington at home Tuesday night and topped the Huskies 40-36.

The Grizz led 11-3 after the first quarter and 17-13 at halftime, then pulled ahead by nine, 34-25, after outscoring the visitors 17-12 in the third. Burlington closed the gap with an 11-6 fourth-quarter advantage.

May led the Grizz with 27 points, five rebounds and three steals. Sponsel scored 9 points, Ward 3 and Scheeler 1.

“The boys came out and responded after a tough loss the night before,” Winland said. “We had a huge third quarter, which helped propel us to the win. It was a great team win, and everyone contributed in ways that don’t show up on the stat sheet.”

The freshmen are off this weekend but will host Lovell Monday at 6:15 p.m.