TMS boys basketball teams busy

Thermopolis Middle School’s eighth grade boys basketball teams have been busy playing a number of teams in the area.

The A team took on Shoshoni recently and coach Ryan Shaffer said, “We played well in this game as we tried to work on a few things. We still gave away a little too much in the fourth quarter, but other than that, we were able to win every quarter before.

“Our defense looked much better and it looked like a good game after coming off a tough loss to Lovell.”

In spite of a 25-39 loss, Jhett Longwell scored 10 points in the game with Jeffrey Lewis not far behind with six points and Andrue Howell had five. Trenton May, Porter McCumber and Sean Slagle dropped in four each.

Will Coale scored three points, Chase Herring, two and Ethan Music scored a freethrow.

The B team had a close win over Shosoni, 18-15.

“As we tried to get everyone on the court, we had the eighth grade B play Shoshoni’s C team,” Shaffer said. “It was a good game to get everyone in, and allowed some much needed playing time for many of them.”

Shaffer added the boys played well on the offensive end to start, but were outscored by a single point heading into the locker room at halftime.

“We were able to change up some things defensively and hold them to only five second half points and secured the win,” he said.

Seth Needham led the way with seven points, followed by Mason Reese with six. Luke Dickey scored three and Ehan Crow tossed in two.

Next up for the eighth graders was a hard loss to Burlington, 38-54.

“We traveled to Burlington and unfortunately we came off the bus way too slow,” Shaffer said. “We missed several wide open shots, allowed some easy layups on the defensive end, and never really were able to get back in the game.”

Shaffer said the boys performed well at the start against the press but allowed it to get to them and change the way the game was played.

“With all of our turnovers an missed shots, this game was a frustrating one for the players and the coaches that we would like to have back,” he said.

The B team however had a win, 22-15 over Burlington.

“Our defense was much better at the start for this game as we took an early six point lead going into halftime,” Shaffer said. “We gave a little in the third, but held them scoreless in the fourth quarter.

“Jessen Basse played well, scoring six points, and our defense as a whole looked good. Hopefully with the couple of wins this week we can continue to see some success in the future.”

The boys had a difficult road trip to Powell last Saturday.

“We lost a few kids to sickness,” Shaffer said, “which seemed to show in both the A and B games, although through it all we had some kids step up in areas where we weren’t expecting.”

Shaffer said Ethan Music showed tremendous hustle on the floor for the A games, while Jessen Basse picked up the point guard duties for the B game.

“Right now we have to find a way to get up more shots and give us more opportunities to score. Hopefully we will be back to full strength as we hit the craziness of our schedule and some of our scoring will come back.”

Against Powell, the A team lost 11-53 and the B team went under 8-22. Playing Cody, the A team went down 15-55 and the B team lost, 9-28.