Bobcats go one for three at regionals

Hot Springs County High School served as host for the 3A West Regional Basketball Tournament last week. Games were played on Thursday, Friday and Saturday - with matchups between teams representing eight Wyoming schools.

The Bobcats finished the regular season in 4th place, with a record of 1 and 5 in the division, and 10 and 11 overall. On Thursday, the Cats were pitted against Pinedale, in the opening round of the tournament. Jhett Longwell had 11 points, Cody Bomengen 11, Dell Dukes 5, Brody Potter 5, Zak Hastie 2, Armani Dukes 1 and Ellis Weber had 1 point. Dell Dukes dropped the sole three-point shot for the Cats.

In a 52 to 36 loss, the team appeared to be out of sync for most of the game, and did not play their best. In sentiment with that great philosophical sage, Forrest Gump – that's all we have to say about that.

Friday morning found the Cats facing the Buffaloes from Mountain View. After a tough loss the day before, the Bobcats enjoyed tremendous support from a great home team crowd – with the student section definitely making its presence known.

Both teams played a very tight defensive game with Mountain View, perhaps, playing a bit better in the first half. At the half, Thermopolis was down just two points in the scoring. In the third, the Cats deployed an exceedingly effective defensive press that sped up the game for the Buffaloes and led to a number of turnovers.

The tight game came down to the wire – with the Bobcats down one, with 7.9 seconds left. Sometimes the stars align just right, or perhaps, a single moment appears to encompass an entire season. Whatever the cause, it was at that point that senior, Andrue Howell, put up a three-point shot from well beyond the arc to win the game for the Bobcats.

If there was anyone in the gym that questioned whether the shot would drop – it sure wasn't Andrue. As time expired, with the Bobcats up by 56 to 54, the student section led the jubilant crowd onto the floor to give Mr. Howell his due reward. Simply put, it was the thing of which dreams are made. Well done, Mr. Howell!

Cody Bomengen had 12 points, Dell Dukes 12, Brody Potter 11, Zak Hastie 10, Jhett Longwell 7, Armani Dukes 1 and Andrue Howell had his remarkable 3 points at the buzzer. Zak Hastie, Cody Bomengen and Andrue Howell each had a three-point shot.

On Saturday, the Bobcats needed a win against long-time rival Worland, in order to extend their season into the state tournament. In a game, that perhaps neither team would have described as well officiated, the Cats once again found themselves on the wrong end of a close scoreboard – losing by a score of 49 to 48. Certainly, the Bobcats have lost a number of close games this year, however, this one hurt the worst and brought the season to an end.

Jhett Longwell had 14 points, Zak Hastie 12, Brody Potter 7, Armani Dukes 7, Dell Dukes 5 and Cody Bomengen had 3 points. Zak Hastie had four three-pointers, Dell Dukes and Armani Dukes each had a three-point shot.

In reflecting upon the season, Coach Shane Corpening commented, "I'm disappointed that we couldn't get it done on Saturday, we certainly had every opportunity to win that game. I'm super proud of the team and what they have accomplished this year. We saw some really good things from all of the players through the season, but we just had four or five really tough games. The Mountain View game was an all-time high for me as a coach."

As for the remarkable shot by Howell, coach said, "That was a really special moment for Andrue and for the team. Andrue has great confidence in his playing abilities – and that includes putting up the threes. Even though he has the ability to shoot the three, you often see him, unselfishly, dishing the ball to one of his teammates to add to the score."