Young Grizzlies drop four in opening tournaments

The rebuilding Rocky Mountain Grizzlies showed their youth and inexperience during the season-opening tournaments at Wright and Glenrock last week, dropping all four games, though three of the four were close.
They then knocked off intra-district rival Burlington on the road Tuesday evening to pick up their first win of the season.
Friday at the Coal Miners Classic in Wright, the Grizz fell to Kaycee 50-46 and host Wright 80-23. Saturday at the Herder Classic in Glenrock, Rocky fell to Lusk 57-48 and host Glenrock 51-42.
“We showed our inexperience, for sure,” coach Pat Winland said. “Lots of turnovers turned into many points for our opponents, and not only that, we lost possessions on the turnovers.”
Out of 16 quarters of basketball, the Grizz had 11 quarters in which they scored in single digits, Winland said, adding, “That’s one of the first things I look at after a game.”
Winland said inexperience showed up in guard play with turnovers being a combination of a guard making a bad pass and the recipient not helping by getting open. At other times it’s a mental mistake where a player may not be ready for a pass, he said, adding, “We’re making the same turnovers again and again.”
The result was points off turnovers for the opposition.
“We played four pretty experienced teams with Wright being the cream of the crop,” Winland said. “Every team, with the exception of Kaycee, had more points off turnovers than we did.”
Injuries cropped up, as well, Winland said, with senior Jacob Bischoff hampered by an ankle injury and Hudson May getting “a little banged up.”
On the positive side, Winland said the Grizzlies never quit and showed sparks of the ability to play good basketball.
“They showed a lot of determination,” he said. “They know they need to get better at certain aspects of the game. At times there was great ball movement and we hit the open shot.”
The results
The Grizz jumped out early on the Kaycee Buckaroos in their first game as they lit up the scoreboard in the first quarter to build a 21-4 lead. Kaycee came back in the second quarter with a 17-10 advantage, but Rocky still led by 10 at halftime, 31-21.
Lafe Files led the Grizz with 13 points in the half, including a trio of three-pointers, and Bischoff added 11 points.
“It was fool’s gold,” Winland said. “We hit a lot of threes in the first quarter (five), which worried me. It ran dry for the rest of the game.”
Kaycee outscored Rocky Mountain 23-8 in the third quarter to lead 44-39 after three, and although the Grizz knotted the score 44-44 in the fourth, Kaycee pulled away to win by four, 50-46. Winland noted that Kaycee started a front line that went 6-5, 6-4, 6-3.
Files finished with 17 points, Bischoff 12 and Max Cooley 9. Noah Johnson added 3 points, Tucker Jackson and Alex Hedges 2 each, Bryce Haslem 1. Hedges led the Grizz with eight rebounds, and Files snared seven, Jackson four. Files had four steals.
Rocky shot 29.8 percent in the game from the field, Kaycee 46.8 percent.
Loss to Wright
It was a struggle for the Grizzlies in the second game against Wright Friday night as the Panthers outscored Rocky in all four quarters – 26-8, 24-5, 16-5 and 14-5 – to win by 57 points.
“This is what it looks like when you spend some time in the summer in the gym,” Winland said of the well-drilled Panthers. “Coach (Pat) Neely said this group played more than 40 games this summer in various team camps. They will be in the thick of things come state tournament time. It was a clinic (Friday).”
Cole Minchow was the only player to reach double figures for the Grizz, finishing with 11 points. Hedges scored 4 points, Johnson and Jackson 3 each, May 2. Jaxson Neely scored 38 points for Wright. Hedges grabbed six rebounds for the Grizz.
Wright shot 58.7 percent from the field to 19.6 percent for Rocky, and Wright had 32 points in transition to zero for the Grizz. Wright scored 22 points off turnovers to 6 for Rocky. Rocky turned the ball over 19 times, Wright 8.
Lusk Tigers
Turnovers plagued the Grizzlies in a 57-48 loss to Lusk in Glenrock Saturday as the Grizz lost the ball 26 times, Lusk 13, and as a result Lusk took 51 shots in the game to 38 for Rocky. Lusk scored 23 points off turnovers, Rocky 12.
The game was a battle in the first half with the score tied 9-9 after the first quarter and Lusk up 28-25 at halftime. But the Tigers gradually pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Grizzlies 11-7 in the third quarter and 18-16 in the fourth.
“We’re still trying to figure out who fits best with who and how rotations are going to look,” Winland said. “We have five more games before the break to answer those questions.”
The Grizz showed balanced scoring, with Johnson scoring 9 points, Haslem, Minchow and Bischoff 8 each, Files 6, Hedges 5 and Jackson 4. Hedges snared seven rebounds, Bischoff five. Haslem had five assists.
Loss to Glenrock
The final game of the weekend saw the Grizzlies fall to Glenrock 51-43 despite 19 points by Minchow. Glenrock outscored the Grizz 24-13 in the first half and led 36-25 after three. Rocky outscored the host team 18-15 in the final quarter to cut the final margin to eight.
“Single-digit quarters (the first and second periods) got us behind,” Winland said. “We’re shooting way too many three-pointers than I would like.
“Cole had a good weekend. He was one of our more consistent players, he and Noah.”
After Minchow’s 19, Hedges scored 9 points, Jackson and Files 4 each, Johnson 3 and Haslem and Cooley 2 apiece. Hedges led with seven rebounds, and Files finished with four.
Burlington win
The Grizzlies came out strong Tuesday in Burlington and built a 30-9 halftime lead as Files fired in 10 points, Haslem 9 and Minchow 8. Burlington fought back in the second half, outscoring, the Grizz 18-13 in the third quarter and 17-8 in the fourth, but it was too little, too late as the Grizzlies improve to 1-4 on the young season.
Haslem finished with 16 points, Files 12, Minchow 8, Jackson 7, Hedges 4, Johnson 3 and Cooley 1.
“It was a much-needed win,” Winland said. “I’m very proud of the way the boys competed. Hopefully, it gives us some momentum heading into the weekend.”
Shoshoni and home
The Grizz will travel to Shoshoni this weekend for the Wrangler Invitational. Friday, Rocky will meet Saratoga at 1:30 p.m. in the main gym following the noon girls game. Saturday, the Grizz will take on Kemmerer in the auxiliary gym at 1 p.m. (girls at 11:30 a.m.) and Dubois at 7 p.m. in the auxiliary gym (girls at 5:30).
Winland said it will be good to see three new opponents in Shoshoni.
“We’ll get an opportunity to see Kemmerer, who could be a regional opponent for us,” Winland said. “Saratoga has always had a solid program, and I’m not sure what Dubois has coming back. They’ve been solid in recent years.”
The Grizzlies will host the rival Lovell Bulldogs Tuesday, with the junior varsity games at 4 p.m., girls varsity at 5:30 and boys varsity at 7 p.m.
Junior varsity
Coach Jeff Samson’s junior varsity squad won one of three games over the weekend. The Grizzlies beat Kaycee 43-31 and fell to Wright 67-42 Friday, then fell to Lusk on Saturday, 43-27.
The Jackson brothers, freshman Kellan and junior Tucker, combined for 26 points against Kaycee Friday, with Kellan scoring 14 and Tucker 12. Rylan Stebner added 10 points, Minchow and Juan Rodriguez 3 each, Hayden Wambeke 1. Tucker Jackson scored 10 points during Rocky’s second quarter 15-4 outburst that helped the Grizz to a 23-13 halftime lead.
A 28-3 first quarter by the host Panthers doomed the young Grizzlies in game two Friday as the two teams each scored 39 points the rest of the game. Kellan Jackson led Rocky with 15 points, and Stebner added 12 points, Minchow 5, Jaxson Miller and Rodriguez 4 each, Travis Crosby 2.
Rocky led Lusk 10-7 after the first quarter Saturday, but Lusk shut out the Grizz 18-0 in the second period to take control of the game. Minchow finished with 11 points, Kellan Jackson and Stebner 7 each, Tucker Jackson 2.
“We were limited in our roster due to injuries and ineligible players, but the boys played hard and seem ambitious to keep working and getting better,” Samson said.
The Grizzly JVs fell to Burlington on the road Tuesday evening, 32-13. Kellan Jackson scored 5 points, Stebner 3, Haslem and Rodriguez 2 each, Wambeke 1.
There is no junior varsity component to the Shoshoni tournament this weekend.