Lady Grizzlies earn back-to-back revenge wins

Rocky Mountain beats Greybull and Shoshoni after earlier losses

The Rocky Mountain girls basketball team delivered one of its most encouraging weekends of the season, knocking off Greybull and Shoshoni in back-to-back games just three weeks after falling to both teams.

The Lady Grizzlies opened with a 56-50 road win over Greybull on Friday, then returned home Saturday to beat Shoshoni 57-33 in dominant fashion.

“We’re playing much better basketball. It’s fun,” head coach Justin Moss said. “I know we kind of took our lumps early, and I do think that people are starting to take notice of us and what we’re doing and how we’re doing things.”

Rocky Mountain 56, Greybull 50

After suffering a 24-point home loss to Greybull on January 23, the Rocky Mountain Lady Grizzlies returned the favor. Traveling to Greybull last Friday, Rocky Mountain came away with a hard-fought 56-50 win.

Rocky Mountain started much the same way, allowing Greybull to score the first five points. But after a timeout and a renewed focus, the Lady Grizzlies settled in and used a huge second quarter to seize control on the road.

Greybull led 14-11 after one, but Rocky Mountain exploded for a 20-7 second quarter to take a 31-21 halftime lead. Greybull trimmed the margin in the third (13-9), but the Lady Grizzlies matched the Buffs 16-16 in the fourth to close out the win.

Lauren Bassett led the way with 15 points, including 9 of 10 shooting at the free throw line. Keylee Christiansen added 12 points, while Halle Grandalen chipped in 11.

Other scorers were Kaysie Cooley with 8, Layla Gardner with 4, Sawyer Bassett with 4 and Leah Haslem with 2.

Rocky Mountain shot 40 percent from the field (20 of 50) and went 10 of 12 from the line, something Moss emphasized.

“To me, free throws are a lot of the focus,” he said. “In that environment, with it being loud and noisy, we had good focus and made free throws, which really helped us.”

Coach Moss was particularly pleased with the Rocky Mountain support in Greybull, saying the traveling crowd matched the home fans in intensity. With members of the boys basketball team, the wrestling team and a strong turnout of students and parents making the trip, the Lady Grizzlies had a loud backing on the road.

It reflected an emphasis Moss has talked about in recent weeks.

“One thing I started talking about a couple weeks ago was pride,” Moss said. “Pride in your work ethic. Pride in what you’re doing. Pride in all the summer work that you’ve done. Pride in our school. And it’s fun to see it.”

Rocky Mountain 57, Shoshoni 33

Saturday’s win may have been even more impressive.

Rocky Mountain jumped ahead early and never let Shoshoni settle in, leading 11-5 after one and 27-14 at halftime. The Lady Grizzlies broke it open with a 20-10 third quarter and closed out the 57-33 win by matching Shoshoni 10-9 in the fourth.

Lauren Bassett again led the scoring with 14 points, while Cooley and Christiansen each added 11. Sawyer Bassett scored 7, and Grandalen had 6.

Haslem and Brooklyn Larsen each scored 2, and Gardner added 2 more.

Rocky Mountain shot 41 percent from the floor (23 of 56) and held Shoshoni to just 15 percent shooting, a point of pride for the coaching staff.

When the Grizzlies faced Shoshoni the first time, Lady Blue star player Natalie Gilbertson dominated, scoring 23 points and hitting six three-pointers. This time, Rocky Mountain turned the tables defensively.

“In this game, she had no field goals,” Moss said of Shoshoni’s top scorer from the earlier meeting. “Six points, that’s all we allowed her. … I was super proud of our girls for their defense.”

Moss said the biggest difference between the early-season losses and this weekend’s wins was health, leadership and a growing sense of team chemistry.

“But I knew we had something earlier. We just weren’t healthy,” Moss said. “We just needed to be back, get connected, start playing. And I call it complementary basketball, where the posts are looking for guards and guards are looking for posts. And we create easier looks for each other.”

He also credited the team’s seniors for helping keep the group together through a challenging stretch.

“I think they helped keep us together during that time,” Moss said. “And just the humans they are, the people they are.”

Now, with roles settling and confidence rising, Moss said the energy around the program feels different.

“This weekend and last weekend, you saw just the fires kind of turn on,” he said. “That passion. And so it was good to see.”

Thermopolis on Friday

With the postseason approaching and momentum building, the Lady Grizzlies appear to be peaking at just the right time. On Friday, they travel to Thermopolis for their final regular-season game against the Lady Bobcats. Rocky Mountain will look to continue the trend and avenge a 57-42 home loss from three weeks ago. The junior varsity game is scheduled for 2 p.m., with the varsity girls tipping off at 5:30 p.m.

The current 2A West Conference standings are Thermopolis at 4-1, followed by Greybull (3-2), Rocky Mountain (2-3) and Shoshoni (1-4). While Rocky faces Thermopolis, Shoshoni will be at Greybull to wrap up the regular season.