Freshman boys win over Lovell

Over the weekend, the freshman boys basketball team competed at the Buffalo Invite, going 1-2 with a 41-35 win against Lovell and losses to Riverton, 51-33, and Powell, 56-52.

Coach Ryan Shaffer said Saturday was a long day with three games to play. He noted five of the seven playing freshmen also competed at the JV level in the Thursday game against Greybull and the Friday game against Powell.

“I tried to limit their minutes in the JV game,” Shaffer said, “but still they essentially played in five games.”

Overall the freshmen did very well, Shaffer said, pointing out there are very good shooters on the team. Out of the three games played Saturday, they made 20 three-pointers.

“It’s a fun game to watch when people do that . . . I even had scorekeepers tell me how fun it was to watch these kids play.”

As for court play to allow for the three-pointers, Shaffer said the Bobcats were moving the ball well and got some quick shots. Specifically at the Powell game, they nailed five treys in the first half and another three in the third. What this did, Shaffer further explained, is forced them to start guarding the three-point line so post Jarron Mortimore was going one-on-one and started nailing layup after layup.

Shaffer noted Mortimore also had a ton of blocks and any time someone brought the ball inside they had a tough time against him.

The team continued to play hard through the weekend, Shaffer said, still able to score 52 points in their final game even though they were exhausted and their legs gone.

Scoring highlights through the weekend included Sterling Gerber’s four three-pointers against Lovell, his three treys against Riverton and another three against Powell. Dustin Harvey nailed four three-pointers against Powell.

Scoring against Lovell were: Gerber — 15, Logan Shumway — 8, Chase Snooks — 7, Cade McLean — 6, Harvey — 5

Against Riverton were: Mortimore — 9, Gerber — 9, McLean — 6, Harvey — 5, Shumway — 4

Against Powell were : Harvey — 14, Mortimore — 13, Gerber — 9, Shumway — 8, McLean — 5, Snooks — 3

Shaffer said it’s nice to see so many players making points, as it helps to keep team trending upward on the scoreboard if one guy is having an off day, or they run into foul trouble or injuries.

Looking at it from a defensive perspective, Shaffer said there are some teams where one player is targeted as a weak link but all of the Thermopolis freshmen are able to move the ball and take it to the hoop.

Shaffer said the team will continue to work on transitions, noting there were some late turnovers against Powell. Defense is key to keep in mind as well, Shaffer said, noting defense is what wins the games. He pointing out the boys were able to keep Lovell to 14 points at the half and 35 points overall.

The boys will hit the court again Friday at 3 p.m. in Lander. Shaffer’s interested to see how the boys play this time around, as when they last faced Lander it was a loss. He noted Dustin Harvey, who was out due to an injury, will be playing, and the team overall has some more experience. It’s interesting to play a team a second time, he said, to see if there’s improvement or there are still things to work on.