Grizz drop two at State but gain valuable experience

The young Rocky Mountain Grizzlies gained valuable experience at the state tournament last week, and they nearly pulled an upset.

Going into the tournament as the number four seed out of the West Region, the Grizzlies met East top seed Pine Bluffs Thursday night and fell 44-33 at Casper College. They then met traditional power Wright, who had fallen to Wyoming Indian 71-61 in the first round.

The Grizzlies trailed by 12 points in the fourth quarter and mounted a furious comeback to take the lead, only to see Wright score the winning basket in the final moments to beat the Grizz 53-52.

“We went down there and represented ourselves really well,” head coach Pat Winland said. “Our team has nothing to hang their heads about. I got a lot of compliments from other fans about our youth and how we’ll be tough to beat in the next two years. It was just a great experience to get on both floors for our boys.

“Pine Bluffs is always at the state tournament and seem to be in the thick of things, and Wright is in the same boat as Pine Bluffs, just really competitive. The Wright kids said they can’t believe how much our guys improved. I mean, the kids were telling our kids that.”

Rocky had lost to Wright 72-58 in the first tournament of the season.

Game one

The Grizz struggled shooting the ball against Pine Bluffs, hitting just 33 percent of their shots from the field and only generating 9 points by halftime, at which point the Hornets led 17-9. The Grizzlies played better in the second half but were edged 27-24.

Winland said the Hornets went after Rocky leading scorer Mason Moss, who scored just 1 point in the first half and finished with 10. 

“It was just tough for him to get good looks, and when he did have a good look, it just wasn’t falling for him,” Winland said, “and that happens sometimes. He does so many other things for us that other kids have to step up at that time and help score. And it doesn’t help when we shoot free throws the way we did in the first half. That five of 12 in the first half didn’t help.”

On the other hand, the Grizzlies did play well defensively, Winland noted. Pine Bluffs came into the game having shot 545 three-pointers on the season, the most in Class 2A, so the Grizzlies extended their zone against shooters Carsten Freeburg and Colby Lerwick, holding Freeburg to one three-pointer, though 16 points, and Lerwick to two treys and 9 points.

“We wanted to extend our zone on really just the two kids, Lerwick and Freeburg, and we did a great job on them,” Winland said. “They were three for nine (from three-point range). Freeburg ended up getting 16, but we made him earn it. … I felt like it (the game) was a missed opportunity, and maybe first game jitters for a lot of them at State had something to do with it.”

Pine Bluffs went on to lose to Wyoming Indian 68-46 in the semifinals but came back to beat Big Horn for third place, 57-42.

Cooper Winland led the Grizzlies with 13 points, and Moss added 10, Kellan Jackson 4, Jaxx May and Evin Clendenen 3 each. Winland grabbed seven rebounds, Jackson six and Moss four.

Game two

Wright has a strong tradition at the state tournament and was a good test for the Grizzlies Friday afternoon. Rocky led the Panthers 10-9 after the first quarter, but Wright outscored the Grizz 18-11 in the second to lead 27-21 at halftime. Rocky trailed by nine, 43-34, after the third quarter, but the Grizz rallied to take the lead, only to fall on a last-second basket.

“Wright’s had our number for the past few years with the Strohschein boys and (Pat) Neely’s son from the year before,” Winland said. “Mitchell (Strohschein), he’s a dude. He’s a guy I’m happy to see graduate. And I want to say this: He’s such a great kid, too. He’s someone Cooper and Evin can look up to on how hard he plays.

“We came out in a zone and knew that they didn’t shoot a lot of threes, and the plan was to try to pack it in on Mitchell and make him have to work for his shots.”

Down by nine after three, the Grizzlies rallied in the fourth. Wright was leading 47-35 with six minutes left when the Grizz began their comeback. Moss hit Winland inside for two, then Winland kicked to Jackson for a trey, making the score 47-40 with 5:20 left. Moss scored on a driving bank shot, and May knocked down a long-range bomb, cutting the deficit to two, 47-45, with 3:14 to play.

Wright scored to make it 49-45, but Moss countered with a drive to pull the Grizz within two again, 49-47, with 2:30 left. Moss stole the ball and went the distance to tie the score 49-49 with a minute left, then stole the ball again, but Wright scored off a turnover to lead 51-49.

After a time out with 19 seconds left, the Grizz ran a play where Moss drove and kicked the ball to Winland, who drained a go-ahead trey from the corner with 12 seconds left. Rocky led 52-51.

The Grizzlies had fouls to give, and after a time out with 10.8 seconds left, Winland halted play with a foul with nine seconds remaining. But on the ensuing possession, Wright forward Joseph Kimbrell sprinted past Rocky defenders and scored on a cross-court pass, putting Wright up 53-52. After a time out with 3.8 seconds left, a beyond-half-court shot missed, ending the Grizzlies’ season.

“It was a tremendous comeback. The kids could have quit, but they showed lots of resilience,” Winland said. “It can be demoralizing when we play all those 3A teams, but I think we learn a lot from that about how to stay competitive, and it helps us in situations like the state tournament.”

The Grizzlies shot well Friday, hitting 51 percent of their shot attempts, 61 percent from inside the three-point line, compared to 42 percent for Wright. Moss and Winland scored 15 points each for the Grizz, Clendenen 10, Jackson 9 and May 3. Jackson and Clendenen grabbed seven rebounds each, and Moss had six assists, Winland four.

The Grizzlies finished the season 12-17 and lose no players to graduation.