Boys JV, freshman see tough weekend

Last weekend, the Thermopolis High School JV and freshman basketball teams traveled to take on Worland Thursday and hosted Buffalo at home Friday. The JV fell to Worland 66-38, and to Buffalo 59-26. Likewise, the freshmen lost both their games, 56-29 to Worland and 59-37 to Buffalo.

Coach Ryan Shaffer knew it was going to be hard-fought weekend, as both Buffalo and Worland were state champs in previous years. He said it was good for the teams to gauge where they’re at and what they need to do.

“It’s good to play the other teams who have tasted success, and see how we stack up and what we need to do to compete and get back in the running,” Shaffer said.

Shaffer noted the boys are getting a lot of good opportunities, looks and shots under the hoop, but those shots aren’t getting through. On the positive, he said, they are limiting turnovers. He planned to focus on shooting under pressure this week. As they go along, he said, the boys are running the plays better and understanding the game more.

“Especially for the JV,” he said. “Going from a 2A to a 3A sport is different. It’s a lot faster game. I think they’re starting to understand more about the defensive types we’re going to see. It’s not going to be relaxed. They’re going to be in your face and you’ve got to make a move and do something about it.”

Shaffer said there were some mistakes with presses, which allowed the game to get “out of reach.” While they stayed in it, a 30-point gap can be a bit demoralizing.

Liam Aaron’s presence on the court made a difference, Shaffer said, as he’s a bigger guy and he can possibly help slow up some points in the future.

Looking at the rest of the season, Shaffer looks to get some better shooting percentages and grabbing more rebounds. He knows the losses are hard, but he hopes the boys are still taking something away and they are improving. He further added, with regard to the freshmen, there’s only seven on the team so they are all getting plenty of play time.

Scoring against Worland in the JV game were: Kolby George — 8; Justin Jeffs — 6; Cade Zupan — 6; Liam Aaron — 5; Jarron Mortimore — 4; Sterling Gerber — 3; Jaxon Davis — 2; Cade McLean — 2; and Logan Shumway — 2.

Scoring against Buffalo in the JV game were: Davis — 9; George — 5; Sean Miller — 4; Liam Aaron — 2; Jeffs — 2; Mortimore — 2; and Zupan — 2.

Scoring against Worland in the freshmen game were: Cade McLean — 10; Dustin Harvey — 9; Morimore — 8; and Chase Snooks — 2.

Scoring against Buffalo for the freshmen were: Harvey — 15; Gerber — 10; Mortimore — 8; Shumway — 2; and Snooks — 2.

Looking at the upcoming games against Rawlins Friday at home, and Douglas Saturday on the road, Shaffer said he’s excited as they have not seen either freshmen team in action. Again, he noted, these games will be used to determine where they’re at and what they can learn.

Freshmen will take on Rawlins at 2:30 p.m. Friday, and Douglas at 11 a.m. Saturday. JV will follow the freshmen games.