JV boys step up against Lovell

“Lander was rough,” said coach Ryan Shaffer of the Thermopolis JV Boys Basketball game Friday evening. The Bobcats came away with the 55-11 loss. “We just were not making anything,” Shaffer said. “We weren’t playing real well.” But, he added, it was a good learning experience.

“It was just one of those games where you get behind and nothing was going in the basket . . . It was just kind of frustrating.”

Scoring against Lander was: Cade Zupan — 4, Kolby George — 3, Justin Jeffs — 2 and Jarron Mortimore — 2.

Shaffer noted the freshmen played Lander first, and lost 61-34. “It was one of those days where the attitude was pretty tough going into it,” he said of the JV game.

Scoring for the freshmen game was: Dustin Harvey — 13, Mortimore — 11, Sterling Gerber — 6, Cade McLean — 2 and Logan Shumway — 2.

Shaffer said the JV team couldn’t get any momentum behind them, and “it was not very pretty.”

The following night, the JV Bobcats faced Lovell. Though down 29-15 at the half, Shaffer said they came back in the second part of the game and kept pace with Bulldogs and were only outscored by one point. Though Lovell won 52-37, Shaffer said the boys kept a positive attitude and their heads up.

’They didn’t give up. They didn’t quit on it. They were pressing, and we were getting steals in the third quarter doing a full-court press. In the fourth quarter we were giving everything we had to try to come back from this game. I think there’s always the idea we can still score.” Even though they never got to within 10 points of Lovell, Shaffer said it was more fun to watch because of the positive attitude.

Scoring against Lovell was: George — 12, Mortimore — 8, Harvey — 5, Davis — 5, Jeffs — 3, McLean — 2, Sean Miller — 1 and Cade Zupan — 1.

Shaffer noted it was George’s best game, by far, and Miller and Zupan had great games but just couldn’t get it through the hoop. “If we can start seeing the ball go through the hoop — maybe shoot 40 percent or even 35 percent — we’re going to be in a lot of these games.” He planned to focus on shooting under pressure this week, noting it’s important to get the guys in the mindset of what it’s like to shoot in a game while they’re at practice.

The focus over the previous week was transitions, Shaffer noted, and the team is certainly playing faster games. “We talked to them, told them what we wanted and they went out and did it.”

Of the team, Shaffer said they’re still growing and figuring out where everyone is at, and there are some small habits to break. He hopes to see players gain confidence in their shooting when off their home court.

There are a lot of young players, he noted, and the sophomores are finding their roles while there is improvement from the freshmen and juniors. Freshman Oran Coyne is still out after an injury from the opening tournament.

The JV and freshman teams will next take to the court this week Thursday at Worland and Friday at home against Buffalo. JV games start at 4 p.m. with freshman at 5:30 p.m. Friday’s games will be played at TMS.