Bulldogs rally in second half to swamp Grizzlies

Renewing their longtime rivalry, the Lovell Bulldogs and Rocky Mountain Grizzlies wrapped up the pre-Christmas portion of the ’23-24 season Tuesday night in Cowley. The Grizzlies gave the visiting Bulldogs all they wanted in a hard fought first half before the Bulldogs turned on the jets to pull away in the second half for a 67-33 win.
“We got out pretty fast with some early pressure, but we weren’t able to capitalize on a few early transition opportunities that would have created more distance from them,” Lovell coach Shane Durtsche said. “Rocky fought hard, and they were well prepared, as we knew they would be.
“We talked about amping the defense pressure up, especially on the ball in the second half. We were able to pressure them and create some transition opportunities and eventually pull away. The second half was our best half of basketball of the season thus far, which was good to see as we head into the break.”
“We played well in the first half,” Rocky coach Pat Winland said. “Their height and athleticism took over in the second half. We didn’t have an answer for their pressure and their inside game.
“Games like this will help prepare us for our conference schedule.”
Lovell came out strong and took an early 9-2 lead with senior Blake Wilson capping the run with a drive and free throw.
Winland called a time out, and the Grizz responded with a 14-2 run to finish the quarter, aided by Lovell center Owen Walker sitting with two fouls. Senior Jacob Bischoff and junior Lafe Files each drained a three-pointer during the Grizzly outburst as Rocky led 16-11 at the quarter break.
A move and jumper by Bryce Haslem put Rocky up 18-11 early in the second quarter, but Lovell scored seven straight to knot the score 18-18. Files answered with a baseline jumper, and after an inside bucket by Wilson, a trey by Files put Rocky up 23-20. But the Grizz cooled off as Lovell finished the quarter with an 8-0 run sparked by a trey by Wilson and 5 points by Walker to give the Bulldogs a 28-23 halftime lead.
Durtsche and his coaches must have lit a fire under the Bulldogs at halftime, as they blitzed the Grizz 21-2 in the third quarter to take over the game and lead 49-25 after three. Walker scored four buckets inside for Lovell including a flying follow dunk off a miss, and senior Parker Anderson added 7 points.
Lovell continued to pull away in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Grizzlies 18-8 to win by 34 points.
Walker finished with 23 points, Parker Anderson 14, Blake Wilson 13, Matthew Newman and Davin Crosby 4 each, Brody Muller, Kaeson Anderson, James Blau and Kyle Wilson 2 each, Jared Mangus 1.
Files scored 16 points to lead Rocky, and Haslem added 8, Bischoff 5, Cole Minchow 3 and Max Cooley 1.
The win improved Lovell to 7-1, while Rocky Mountain fell to 2-7.
JV game
Lovell won the junior varsity game 49-29. Rocky led 25-18 at halftime, but Lovell outscored the home team 31-4 in the second half to win.
Kyle Wilson led Lovell with 13 points, and Owen Edwards added 7, Parker Steenbakkers 6, Muller and Kaeson Anderson 5 apiece, Cash Wassmer and Braxton Felkins 4 each, Blau 3 and Jaxen Clark 2.
Haslem scored 17 for Rocky Mountain, Rylan Stebner 5, Tucker Jackson 3 and Kellan Jackson and Jiggs Yellowtail 2 apiece.
“I was proud we were able to take a lead of 25-18 into the half,” Rocky coach Jeff Samson said. “During the second half we were limited to our C team guys and had no quarters left for varsity guys, so it was hard to keep up at that point.”