‘Reloading’ Grizz go 3-1 at opening tournaments

What some thought might be a rebuilding year for the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies is looking more like a reloading year as the Grizz won three of four games at the combined Coal Miner’s/Herder Classic over the weekend in Wright and Glenrock.

Friday in Wright, the Grizz split with a pair of fifth-ranked teams, beating Sundance 59-41 and falling to host Wright 72-58.

Saturday in Glenrock, the Grizzlies beat Tongue River 56-35 and Class 3A Glenrock 60-54.

“I was pleasantly surprised about how we played,” head coach Pat Winland said. “I had some kids step up that really helped us out with our scoring. I thought we’d get three out of four, but I was also pleasantly surprised by how well we played.

“We shared the ball really well, and we adapted to the different defenses that we saw. I just felt like we took great shots all weekend. We struggled (with pressure) against Wright because of their athleticism, and in the Glenrock game we didn’t handle the pressure in the last two minutes like we needed to. We were up by 10 or 12 points with two or three minutes to go, and we made some silly errors, but that’s something you learn from, and I’ll just say the Wright game gave us a great practice plan for the week.”

Winland said the defense was up and down over the weekend and wasn’t strong against a Wright team that likes to run.

“Our rotations on defense weren’t great in that game,” he said. “In that game, especially, we didn’t get back, but we had it within seven points in the fourth quarter, as much as we were struggling.

“We rebounded well all weekend. We saw lots of three-pointers from other teams, and good for us that we rebounded well. We just didn’t give them any second looks to kick it out for another open three.”

Rocky 59, Sundance 41

In game one, the Grizzlies avenged a 59-49 loss to Sundance in the first round of the state tournament last season. The Grizz came out strong and led 19-7 at the end of the first quarter as Mason Moss scored 8 points and Jaxon Hayes hit two three-pointers, Kellan Jackson one. The game was pretty even after that, with Rocky outscoring Sundance 40-34 the rest of the way.

Winland said he was pleased with how well the team shot from beyond the arc as the Grizz drained eight three-pointers.

“Jaxon Hayes came in and sparked us,” he said. “That was the unexpected part for me the whole weekend -- how well we shot the three-pointer. Because in practice, we were not seeing it.

“Their best player went out in the first quarter. Kade Mills took a shot to the head, had to leave and got two staples. So obviously that helped our cause. They’ll be solid when he’s back.”

Moss finished with 25 points, Hayes 14, Cooper Winland 12, Jaxx May and Jackson 3 each, Evin Clendenen 2. Winland grabbed six rebounds, Moss five, and Jaxson Miller had five assists.

Wright 72, Rocky 58

The hometown Panthers blitzed the Grizzlies 26-14 in the first quarter, then only outscored Rocky by two the rest of the game, 46-44.

“It was lots of turnovers and not getting back on defense,” Winland said. “And shots that we were making against Sundance were not falling early.”

Winland said the Grizzlies pulled to within seven points in the fourth quarter before falling back, losing by 14.

Moss poured in 31 points for the Grizzlies, and Winland added 8 points, Clendenen 7, Jackson 4, Jaxson Sponsel and May 3, Hayes 2. Winland led the team with eight rebounds and six assists.

“In every game Mason was in the high 20s,” Coach Winland said. “All weekend long, he took shots within the offense. When we needed a bucket, he got it. But also kept his teammates involved. He’s just such a great kid, too. I mean, humble as can be.”

Rocky 56, Tongue River 35

The Grizzlies coasted to a 21-point win over Tongue River Saturday afternoon in Glenrock. Rocky built a 21-6 lead by the end of the first quarter, led 31-19 at halftime and outscored the Eagles 25-16 in the second half. Moss and Winland combined for 42 points in the game.

“Tongue River has been down the past couple of years, and we wanted to take advantage of that,” the coach said. “We got off to a great start with Mason and Cooper, and we were able to experiment throughout the game with different defenses. It was 40-30 at one time, and we finished the game with a 16-5 run.”

Moss fired in 27 points, Winland 15. Clendenen added 8 points, Jackson 4 and Miller 2. Miller led the team with five rebounds, and Moss had four assists.

Rocky 61, Glenrock 54

Rocky came out on fire against Glenrock as Hayes sparked the team with a trio of treys in the first quarter, leading to a 20-9 lead after one. Rocky led 33-21 at halftime, and while Glenrock edged the Grizz 33-28 in the second half, they couldn’t complete the comeback, despite a 16-11 fourth-quarter surge.

“They’re a short, quick team, and I knew they would shoot a lot of three-pointers (36 total),” Winland said. “We just stayed in our zone. This is kind of the thing we’ve been working on, rotating. We stayed in the zone and tried to do a better job of rotating to their shooters. They were hot right at the start, but we didn’t panic and were able to outscore them 20-9 in the first. We maintained a 12- to 14-point lead the whole game until the last two minutes when we didn’t finish well. We just had some passes that were stolen and gave them some easy layups.”

Moss led the team with 25 points, and Hayes added 13, Winland 9, Jackson 7, Clendenen 4 and Sponsel 3. Jackson pulled down 10 rebounds, Moss and Clendenen 8 each. Moss had five assists, Winland four.

Junior varsity

The Rocky Mountain junior varsity team went 3-0 at the tournaments, playing to three-quarter games in Wright due to a bus breakdown on the Big Horns en route.

The JV Grizz beat Sundance 30-23 and Wright 49-31 Friday, then ripped Tongue River 55-23 on Saturday in Glenrock.

May led the Grizz with 15 points against Sundance, and Sponsel added 8 points, Travis Crosby 4, Cooper Ward 2 and Hayes 1.

In the Wright game, May and Crosby scored 12 points each, Hayes and Ward 7 points apiece, Sponsel 5 and Lucas Miller and Gary Gardner 3 each.

Saturday against Tongue River, Sponsel led the team with 15 points, and Hayes joined him in double figures with 11. Ward and May scored 9 points each, Crosby 7, Lucas Miller 3 and Cameron Minchow 1.

Burlington Tuesday

The Grizzlies traveled to Burlington Tuesday evening to take on the intra-district rival Huskies, falling 53-47.

Rocky led after the first quarter, 14-8, as Moss scored 6 points, Clendenen 5, but the home team took off in the second quarter outscoring the Grizz 21-12 to lead 29-26 at halftime.

Burlington edged Rocky 24-21 in the second half to win by six.

“Burlington was more physical,” Coach Winland said after the game. “Careless turnovers that we didn’t make last weekend killed us.”

Cooper Winland and Moss led the Grizz with 17 points each, and Clendenen added 8 points, Hayes 5.

Wrangler tournament

The Grizzlies will travel to Shoshoni this weekend for the Wrangler Invitational, a varsity-only tournament. The Grizz will meet Class 3A Lyman Friday at 1:30 p.m., defending state 1A champion Upton Saturday at 1 p.m. and Cokeville Saturday at 4.