Rocky ‘A’ team second at conference hoops tournament

The Rocky Mountain Lady Grizzly A and B teams concluded the 2023 season at their respective Big Horn Basin Conference tournaments Saturday, with the A team (mostly eighth graders) in Shoshoni and the seventh-grade/B squad in Basin.
Coach Doug Arnold’s A team played for the championship in Shoshoni, playing to a 1-1 record following a first-round bye.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled with the results for this group of young Lady Grizz,” Arnold said.
The Lady Grizz clobbered Burlington in their first game, 34-14, putting the Lady Huskies away with “outstanding” first and third quarters, Arnold said.
“Brooklyn Larsen buried a 25-foot three-point bomb to beat the buzzer at the end of the third quarter, and we applied a little three-quarter-court pressure at different times during the game to keep Burlington off balance.”
Sawyer Bassett led the Rocky scoring attack with 11 points, and Kennedy Brimhall added 9 points, Larsen 7, Leah Haslem 4, Bailey Gifford 2 and Annie Crosby 1.
The championship game found Rocky pitted against undefeated Shoshoni.
“The Lady Blue are a talented group of young players and well coached,” Arnold said. “The pressure they apply forces you to start your offense 84 feet from the basket, and it’s relentless. Overall, I felt like our girls handled their physical pressure well in the first half, only down 15-7.
“However, Shoshoni took control in the third quarter with even more pressure and outscored us 15-5. Midway through the fourth we cut the lead to 12 but could get no closer. We had to take some risks down the stretch, and they didn’t pay off.”
Rocky fell 39-20.
“We had just six girls in uniform for the tournament, and they played their tails off every possession,” Arnold said. “I’m proud of the effort they gave throughout the weekend and all season long. We came home physically and mentally exhausted and gave it our best effort. I couldn’t ask any more of them.”
Crosby and Larsen scored 6 points each for the Lady Grizzlies, Bassett 4, Haslem 3 and Gifford 1.
“These girls began playing summer league games back in June, and we’ve learned a lot about each other and what works and what doesn’t work for us,” Arnold said. “We modified and adjusted to fit our skill set, and it’s paid off with a favorable outcome. Everyone starts out with the goal to win a championship, but only one team finishes on top. Sometimes your championship is knowing that you gave it your best effort and left everything on the court for your teammates.
“For our four eighth-grade players, I’m excited for their high school careers to begin and will be in the stands cheering them on to success. A little fire has been lit inside them to work even harder and get a little better as they try to climb the last rung in the ladder. They’ve found that dislike losing more than winning. They’re competitive.
“For our seventh/sixth graders, we encourage you to stay busy and work on what we’ve given you as a foundation. There’s no easy road or shortcut to Successville in sports or life.”
Seventh-grade tourney
The Rocky B team played two games at the seventh-grade conference tournament in Basin Saturday, falling to Burlington 22-20 and Shoshoni 19-8, placing fourth.
“It was a tough game against a scrappy Burlington team,” coach Taylor Winland said. “We got out to an early lead, but Burlington battled back and the took an eight-point lead on us. We battled back until the very end, and the game came down to the last few seconds.”
Taylor Grandalen scored 10 points for the Lady Grizz, Daizy Weinand 8 and Kinleigh Hopkin 2.
Shoshoni led Rocky 9-6 at halftime and outscored the Lady Grizz 10-2 in the second half.
“We couldn’t get our shots to fall,” Winland said. “We had looks on almost every possession but just couldn’t make our shots. This team has made a lot of growth from the beginning of the season, and I couldn’t be more proud of them. I loved coaching them.
“The one thing I emphasized in the locker room after the game is, ‘Please don’t let November through December be the only time you touch a basketball. Go to camps and improve on the off season.’”
Elle Ganoung led Rocky with 4 points, and Grandalen and Weinand added 2 apiece.