Rocky freshmen drop a pair at Powell

Following a one-week postponement to fit the school concert schedule, the Lovell freshman or “C” basketball teams opened the ’23-24 season at Powell Monday night, dropping both ends of a doubleheader to the Panthers.
Powell won the girls game 57-26 and the boys game 57-27.
Seeing their first game of the season, the Lady Grizz fell behind quickly against Powell, trailing 20-4 after the first quarter. Rocky trailed 34-8 at halftime, then outscored Powell 12-9 in the third quarter to make the score 43-20 after three. Powell took the fourth 14-6 to win by 31 points.
Layla Gardner led the Lady Grizz with 9 points, and Halle Grandalen added 8 points, Kaysie Cooley 7 and Lily Bauwens 2.
“Having only six girls on the C team, everyone was able to get a lot of court time,” coach Jamie Cooley said. “Powell is a quick team, and they move the ball well. With our six we didn’t get a lot of resting time, and we got tired. We were a bit slow on defense, but we were able to work our offense and get some good shots off; we just couldn’t get them to fall.
“We were able to see the things we need to put more work into, both offensively and defensively. I am proud of the way these girls stayed in the game. It was hard, and they kept at it. These girls are a great group to work with.”
In the boys game, the Rocky boys also found themselves deep in a hole after the first quarter, trailing 18-3. The Panthers went on to outscore Rocky Mountain 13-10 in the second quarter, 15-8 in the third and 11-6 in the fourth to win by 30.
Rylan Stebner paced the Grizz with 11 points, and Kellan Jackson added 6 points, Jacob Melton 4 and Jaxson Miller, Travis Crosby and Hayden Wambeke 2 apiece.
“This was our first game together for our C team. It was kind of a get-to-know-you game and figure out our rotations,” coach Taylor Winland said. “We got out to a slow start but steadily improved as the game went on. Credit to Powell. They were physical and shot really well. Looking forward to a great season coaching these guys.”
The Rocky C team will return to action following the Christmas break on Monday, Jan. 8, against Greybull with the boys game at home and the girls game in Greybull, both tipping off at 6:15 p.m.