JV, freshman at home Thursday

The Bocats JV and freshmen teams met with some tough competition this weekend against Wheatland and Torrington. The JV lost 50-29 to Wheatland and 48-45 to Torrington, while the freshmen lost 50-33 against Wheatland and 46-31 against Torrington.

Coach Ryan Shaffer said Wheatland was one of those games where they slacked up a little on offense and they gave up too many points. They started a bit slow, he noted, then picked up the defense later and got within five points in the first half but gave up 11 in the second.

“It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that we picked up the pressure,” Shaffer said. “Our defense looked so much better in the fourth quarter. We outscored them by three points.” The coach said they’re looking at how to get going offensively and defensively so they aren’t giving up 50 points in a game.

Coming into the Torrington game, Shaffer said, one could see how the team picked things up a bit. There was still some trouble, he noted, with some missed shots. Though down by 14 at the half, Shaffer said the second was one of those moments where the light clicked on and the defense came alive, grabbing steal after steal.

Shaffer commended Liam Aaron, one of Thermopolis’ taller players, who came out and played big in the second half, grabbing steals and going seven for seven inside the arc, making 15 of his total 19 in the second half.

Shaffer hated the Torrington matchup being the last game of the weekend, because there’s a week to wait to see if Aaron will continue that intensity.

The second half was amazing, Shaffer said, as all through the year they’ve seen single-digit quarters; in the Torrington game, they netted 18 in the third quarter and 18 in the fourth.

Shaffer’s excited to see how the team comes away from the Torrington game, and he hopes the intensity continues into Thursday’s game against Worland and Friday’s against Buffalo. Having played both teams earlier this season, he said this week’s games would be good markers to see if they are improving.

Scoring against Wheatland for JV were: Jaxon Davis — 8; Aaron — 6; Jarron Mortimore — 4; Justin Jeffs — 3; Kolby George — 2; Dustin Harvey — 2; Sean Miller — 2; and Cade Zupan — 2.

Scoring against Torrington were: Aaron — 19; Zupan — 12; Jeffs — 5; George — 3; McLean — 2; Miller — 2; and Mortimore — 2.

As for the freshmen, Shaffer said they are playing well but are in a bit of a slump as they aren’t hitting the shots they want. Shaffer said at the start of the season they were good shooters and they need to bolster their confidence. He noted they can shoot well, but their confidence and accuracy seems to drop when they miss a few shots. The coach noted in the Wheatland game they actually got off 70 shots.

He plans to work with the players in getting more aggressive and taking it to the rim when they see their shots from the outside aren’t going in, as making a couple baskets can bring their confidence up.

Shaffer said it’s good to see it’s not just one player grabbing all the points; the scoring is spread across the team. He believes Thermopolis will be a fun team to watch in the tournament.

While the Bobcat freshmen have good quarters during their games, Shaffer said they’ll be a tough team if they can figure out all four quarters. Again, he said, it comes down to confidence. He’s seen them play against teams they’ve done well against in the past, and that confidence shines through, but the trick is keeping it strong in every game.

Scoring against Wheatland for the freshmen were: Mortimore — 10; Logan Shumway — 7; Chase Snooks — 7; Harvey — 5; Sterling Gerber — 2; and Cade McLean — 2.

Scoring against Torrington were: Harvey — 11; Gerber — 7; Snooks — 5; Oran Coyne — 3; McLean — 2; Mortimore — 2; and Shumway — 1.

The JV team will play at home against Worland Thursday at 4 p.m. and be at Buffalo Friday at 4 p.m. Freshman games will follow.