Bobcats go 1-2 in Glenrock

by Mark Dykes

The Hot Springs County High School Boys Basketball Varsity team came away with one win and two losses when they played at the Herder Classic at Glenrock Dec. 9 and 10. The team won against Lusk, 48-26, but lost 61-53 against Wright and 47-46 against Glenrock. The latter loss, however, came after they took Glenrock into overtime.

Coach Kevin Gerber said the boys came out against Lusk in their first game Friday looking "as comfortable as I've ever seen us look in a first game. They looked really confident, really comfortable." He added they shot with confidence, and came to the court believing they were the better team.

"We shot the ball fairly well that game," Gerber said, noting Noah Schwalbe, Alex Jensen and Hudson Roling had good games - Schwalbe had 16 points, Roling had 14 and Jensen had 11.

"One of our big goals we've talked about is, if there is any point we can keep an opponent in a high school game under 40 points, you give yourself a chance to win every single time." He noted they were able to meet that goal in two of the three games, as they initially tied Glenrock at 37 before going into overtime.

"You never felt panicked," Gerber said of the boys' performance against Lusk. "They played really confidently. From the start of the game to the finish, it had a pre-season feel to it."

Scoring for the Bobcats against Lusk was: Schwalbe - 16; Roling - 14; Jensen - 11; Jake Maksin - 4; Logan Bartholomew - 2; and Jaxon Davis - 1.

The second game was against Wright Saturday afternoon, and Gerber said the team put a lot of pressure on the Bobcats. "They did a full-court press on us. Initially we handled okay. I don't know if we handled it great, but we did pretty good."

The biggest difference in the Wright game, Gerber said, was the second chance points. "They outscored us on second chance 17 to 6," meaning they were getting more offensive rebounds and put backs. "That was a big emphasis we talked about at halftime, putting a body on somebody, and going and getting rebounds."

Wright out-rebounded Thermopolis 34 to 25 unfortunately, Gerber said, so the biggest difference was in turnovers.

On the positive side, the Bobcats shot free throws really well, making 75 percent, 18 our of 24. "I honestly can't tell you if I've coached a team that's shot 75 percent as a team from the free throw line. That was a big plus for us and definitely kept us in the game," Gerber said. He was also impressed with the drive of the kids to continue playing, even though they got behind by 17 at one time. A drive from the team brought the deficit to within 6 points, and only 8 at the final buzzer.

Gerber thought the Wright boys maybe panicked at the end, and all of the referees told him Thermopolis might have snagged a win if they had a couple more minutes.

"I just can't emphasize enough," Gerber said, "that, minus a few guys, we just don't have a lot of boys with varsity time. They're just trying to feel out what they're going to be as a team."

Scoring against Wright was: Roling - 17; Schwalbe - 13; Brett Nicodemus - 6; Maksin - 5; Bartholomew - 4; Jensen - 4; and Cade Zupan - 4.

As for the final matchup, against Glenrock, Gerber said it was against the home crowd, which was kind of exciting because there was plenty of noise in the gym. "That helps get you going a little bit."

Glenrock played well, Gerber said, though Thermopolis held them to 11 points in the first half. Going into halftime, the emphasis was to make sure they were kept down and didn't get a chance to double up. Unfortunately, Glenrock came back with a good third quarter, outscoring the Bobcats 16-10.

Being new into the season, Gerber said, it's always contemplated whether to call a time out and try to settle things or work through it. "We kind of did both. We played it through a little bit and then we started calling some time outs to try and slow down their momentum. They did get a little bit ahead of us, and then it felt like we traded baskets back and forth."

The biggest difference, again, came from free throws. Thermopolis got to the line six times and made two, where Glenrock made 16 of their 26. However, Thermopolis out-rebounded Glenrock 39-36.

An emphasis in practice this week, Gerber noted, is taking care of the ball. "In three games we averaged over 20 turnovers, and that's really not very good. You want to be down far less than that."

Gerber said Brett Nicodemus stepped up and gave some good minutes on the court. Nicodemus, he added, is also extremely coachable and able to implement instruction on the court. Sophomore Jaxon Davis also put in some time, Gerber said, noting his three-pointer boosted the confidence of his teammates.

Scoring in the Glenrock game was: Schwalbe - 19; Roling - 8; William DeVries - 5; Jensen - 4; Davis - 3; Nicodemus - 3; Maksin - 2; and Bartholomew - 2.

As for the JV team last weekend, they went 2-0, winning games against Glenrock 24-11 in two quarters and against Riverside 30-1 in two quarters. Due to injuries and other factors, only halves of the JV games were played.

Gerber said the JV sophomore boys didn't have so great a season last year, so it's nice to see them off to such a good start.

"We have three big games this weekend," Gerber said, referring to the East-West Classic at Lander Dec. 16 and 17. "We have Riverton, We have Lovell and we have Cody. That's both Varsity and JV. Riverton dropping down to 3A and us going into 3A, it's kind of your typical David versus Goliath story. You have us as the smallest 3A school and them as the largest 3A school going up against each other."

Gerber said some might not give Thermopolis much of a chance against Riverton, but it comes down to five high school boys against another five boys, and on any given day one team can beat another.

As for Lovell, Gerber said it's always a big game for us. "It's always been a thorn in our side in the boys' athletic years. It seems like Lovell always gets a little bit better than them, and so I would really like to see this group of boys beat Lovell."

The tournament will be a good test for the team, Gerber said, and he wants the boys to take to the court with confidence and believing they can win any game they come to.