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Freshman see two wins last week

The Hot Springs County High School freshman basketball team will be heading into their conference this weekend at Worland with a couple more wins under their belts, after a close 39-38 win against Greybull on Valentine's Day and a 56-47 win in overtime against Rawlins Friday night.

Coach Ryan Shaffer noted the boys didn't start off the greatest in the Greybull match-up, with a lot of bad shots, many of which happened when they were wide open. The end result was only 12 for the Bobcats in the first half; Greybull fared slightly better, with 14.

Shaffer noted they were down 21-27 in the third, but able to fire back with 18 points - half of them from three-pointers - in the final quarter, to Greybull's 11.

Scoring against Greybull were: Dustin Harvey - 16; Sterling Gerber - 7; Logan Shumway - 6; Cade McLean - 5; Oran Coyne - 3; and Jarron Mortimore - 2.

The freshman team, Shaffer said, is one to watch out for when they get hot, and that fire certainly didn't die out as they headed to Friday's game against Rawlins. The coach said he's been pushing them to hold their opponents to within 10 points per quarter. Though the Bobcats allowed Rawlins to have 14 in the first quarter, Shaffer reminded the team of the goal to limit points, and they kept the Outlaws to only three in the third.

Thermopolis had a good, eight-point lead going into the fourth, though Shaffer noted the Bobcats were shooting long shots and doing things they didn't necessarily have to. The Outlaws came back and were able to tie things up and force the game into overtime. Shaffer said they came back hard in overtime, winning 11-2.

Though playing with fewer boys than Rawlins, Shaffer said Thermopolis definitely did not look like they were short manned at all. "They were able to run," he said. "We got a lot of fast breaks and played good defense. It was a good win overall."

Scoring against Rawlins were: Mortimore - 18; Harvey - 12; McLean - 10; Shumway - 7; Gerber - 6; Chase Snooks - 2; and Coyne - 1.

Going into the tournament at Worland, Shaffer noted the hosting town has a top team, and it will be interesting to see who comes. The boys will play a minimum of three games, he said, so it will certainly be exhausting, but the Rawlins game shows "we have a lot in our tanks." He reminded the boys all it takes is a couple wins to put them in the championship game.

The JV team had a tougher time against Rawlins, losing to the Outlaws 62-33.

Shaffer said the biggest issue for JV was the number of turnovers, with almost 30 during the game. Rawlins also took and made more shots, he said, as it was a rough shooting game for the Bobcats with nobody making double digits.

Liam Aaron and Cade Zupan ran into some foul trouble as well, Shaffer said, and with freshman substitutes just coming off their game, several were already tired.

"It was one of those games," Shaffer said, "where our starters came out and just weren't hitting anything, not taking care of the ball. It was ice cold. We were nine for 31 on two-point field goals." Additionally, Thermopolis had only nine, all in the fourth quarter, to Rawlins' 16.

Shaffer said it seems the boys didn't really seem to get going until the last quarter. He noted they scored 18 in the first three quarters, and 15 in the fourth.

"We're trying to change things to look at the here, the now, what's going on right now and not so much worrying about the score . . . that's where we're struggling. We look at the score and we get down," Shaffer said. He added this "definitely wasn't our best game."

Scoring against Rawlins were: Justin Jeffs - 9; Kolby George - 7; Cade Zupan - 5; Jaxon Davis - 4; Sean Miller - 4; Liam Aaron - 2; and Mortimore - 2.

The JV boys will take on Newcastle this Saturday. Shaffer said it will be a different game for them, as the five freshmen who play won't be available. He said they have to be in top shape, adding, "We don't have the biggest teams in the state, so we'll just have to outrun them and hopefully we can do that. That's where the JV is right now. They're going to have to really give an effort for the last game of the season." He also plans to push the boys more to get more open and get more inside shots.

The JV game at Newcastle begins at 11 a.m.

 

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