Bobcat pride is flowing during season opener

by Chandler Smith

The Hot Springs County High School boys basketball team channeled their pride and chaos into three hard-fought games over weekend at the Coal Miners' Classic in Wright. The boys were edged out early in the first game by Big Horn, losing 75-50, then rebounded and beat Wright 58-41, only to lose their last game against Tongue River in the final seconds Saturday morning.

"Quarter one, three, and four, if we took those scores, we lost by one point. We tied them the third and fourth quarter," said coach Kevin Gerber of his team's first game against Big Horn. "It was the second quarter that destroyed us."

Gerber pointed out the hard-fought loss against Big Horn was, "our first game, and our first game that we were implementing a new defense, a new offense." The difference between the win and the loss against the Rams was the second quarter in which things worked out just a little better for the Rams.

"We kind of fell asleep for a quarter. In that one quarter things just didn't happen for us." According to Gerber, boxing out and rebounds were the biggest difference between the two teams.

The Bobcats learned their lesson and went into their next game against Wright with their drive renewed, undeterred by the 25-point loss suffered just hours before. Finally, the ball started bouncing their way, and the boys shot a stellar 55% from the floor. "As a team we played really well [against Wright]," said Gerber.

"We put some things together against Wright that looked like what we are wanting to do. There were some amazing passes, really unselfish play by everybody that went in." Gerber said that the team was able to play top-notch basketball against Wright even though he had just moved players to different, and therefore unfamiliar, positions.

"It looked really good. It was fun to see the offense come together and work."

Game three was another tough one for the Bobcats. "We did a lot of great things, [the team] did everything we asked them too," said Gerber, noting that the defense was top-notch and held the Eagles to a mere 37 points.

"We went from a night of 55% shooting from the field to 22%," Gerber said of his team's offensive performance. "It was like a lid was on the hoop."

This was a telling statistic from the Saturday matchup. Another was the difference between free throw shooting percentages. The Eagles shot 8-for-10 from the line, while the Bobcats only shot 9-for-24. "We shot 14 more free throws than them, and only made one more."

The game was neck-and-neck until the final buzzer, when Noah Schwalbe had a chance to put the Bobcats up just before time expired, but was called with a charge foul with less than two seconds left.

Gerber could not complain about his team's performance, though. "The energy was awesome again from the boys. The pride was eminent. They played really hard."

Sophomore Keegan Robbins finished the game with a double-double (23 points, 10 rebounds), while Dominic Jensen scored 23 points against Wright and 10 against Big Horn. Noah Schwalbe scored 15 against Wright. Robbins and senior Eric Herold were just short of double digits against Wright as well.

"We know that if we can hold our opponents under 40 points, it gives ourselves a chance to win every single time," said Gerber. With 12 seconds left in the Bobcats' game against Wright, the Panthers hit a layup to finish with 41 points. The Bobcats' final game of the Coal Miners' Classic was a success in these terms, however, with Tongue River scoring only 37 points.

Despite the two losses suffered this weekend, coach Gerber stressed his team's readiness for future matchups. "You could see where [the new offense and defense] started clicking," Gerber said of this weekend's games. "It's going to take a little bit, since we've got some younger guys playing too," but Gerber added that, "Just from game one to game two you saw that chemistry working."

The team will be working hard all week on rebounding and free throws for this weekend's games against Upton, Cokeville, and Little Snake River.