JV, frosh boys basketball end season on wins

Both the freshman and JV boys basketball teams capped off their 2016-17 seasons with the big W, as the freshmen took Douglas 34-24 in their third conference game at Worland and the JV saw a 39-27 victory at Newcastle.

The JV players ran into a bit of trouble on their way to Newcastle, Coach Kevin Gerber said, with some bus issues that delayed them a couple hours. He expressed appreciation to the bus crews and drivers who helped him and the students — the boys and girls traveled together — get there safely and as timely as they could.

Though the boys didn’t have much time to warm up, they came out and played strong, with Cade Zupan nailing a three-pointer on the team’s first possession; Zupan scored seven of the Bobcats’ nine first quarter points.

With having just six players, as the freshmen were playing in Worland, Gerber said he knew everyone was going to get some playing time.

The Bobcats outscored the Dogies 9-5 in the first quarter, though Gerber said things got a bit tougher in the second, with each team scoring six. “But the really good thing about that quarter for us,” the coach said, “is we had four different guys score. When you only have six points but you have four guys score that’s good. It means you’re passing the ball and moving it around.”

At halftime, Gerber made some adjustments. In the third quarter, he said, is where it seems like the Bocats’ size really started to dominate. “Liam [Aaron] had a great quarter. He scored six of his eight in the third quarter,” Gerber said, though it felt like more with three consecutive buckets.

With Thermopolis leading the scoring 13-7 in the third quarter, it provided Gerber an opportunity to have Jaxon Davis sit out, to save him for more varsity time. In the fourth, the Bobcats kept up on the scoring end, winning the quarter 11-9 and the game.

Gerber said there are not many other leagues that get to end on a win, unless it’s a championship. “For them to end their season on a win,” he said, “I think that can be really good. It was exciting to see them play as hard as they did, and they did exactly what they needed to do.”

Scoring against Newcastle were: Zupan — 10; Aaron — 8; Justin Jeffs — 7; Davis — 6; Sean Miller — 6; and Kolby George —2.

As for the freshman tournament, Coach Ryan Shaffer said their first game against Jackson was one they should’ve had. Thermopolis was ahead every quarter, but it was Cody that came out two points ahead in the fourth, and took a one-point victory, 41-40.

Shaffer said the team did well on free throws, going 15 for 26, which is better than they’ve done all season. At the end, he noted, they had to foul a Jackson player, who made one of two free throws. Thermopolis answered back with a half-court three-pointer at the end, but that only brought them to 40. “They did everything they needed to do to win that game,” Shaffer said. “It’s just Jackson did everything they needed to do to stop us.”

Shaffer has told the boys several times that they give themselves a chance to win if they keep their opponents to 10 points or less each quarter. While that didn’t happen against Jackson, they managed to keep them to 20 in the first half and 21 in the second.

Still, Shaffer noted, the boys understand the defense can win games, as earlier in the season they were giving up sometimes 60 points in a game.

Scoring against Jackson were: Dustin Harvey — 8; Cade McLean — 8; Mortimore — 8; Sterling Gerber — 5; Oran Coyne — 4; Shumway — 4; and Chase Snooks — 3.

In the second game, against Cody, the boys saw a 40-33 loss. Shaffer said they were aggressive, coming up with 16 points in the first quarter to Cody’s nine. He noted Cade McLean saw a great game, scoring nine of his 12 in the first quarter.

Though Cody would close the gap, Thermopolis kept a three-point lead through the game — 22-19 in the second and 29-26 in the third — but only scored four in the fourth quarter compared to Cody’s 14.

“They put us in a trap,” Shaffer said, “and we just couldn’t handle the trap.” He added it was hard to understand why, as they’ve practiced the half-court trap. Shaffer said it’s also tough for our guys, having only seven players compared to other teams that have up to 14 and can give their guys more of a rest and plan when they’re not on the court.

Shaffer said the boys did a great job of moving the ball, and it was one of those where they never felt like they were out of the game. “We felt like we were right there,” he said.

Scoring against Cody were: McLean — 12; Mortimore — 6; Coyne — 5; Harvey — 4; Gerber — 3; and Snooks — 3.

In the third game, against Douglas, where they took their 34-24 win, Shaffer said Gerber went out with a leg injury early in the second quarter. At that point, the coach said, they had the lead, and a four-point lead, 9-13, at halftime.

Coyne really came on during the Douglas game, Shaffer said. He had been out for half the season due to injury, and Shaffer noted if he was able to play the whole season it would’ve been a completely different team going into the tournament.

In addition to Gerber’s injury, Shumway had four fouls in the third quarter. This meant there were no subs available, and it was up to the remaining five to finish things. Shaffer said Snooks and Coyne came off the bench and played well on defense and got aggressive and went after the ball. It was this energy that kept the Bobcats ahead and helped win them the game.

When it came to the end of the game, Shaffer said they really didn’t have a set offense; instead, they were just running the ball and taking it to the hoop. Shaffer said this style of play seems to fit the boys well, as they’re more of a running team rather than sticking with any set offense. He encouraged them to give it everything they had, as it was their last game of the season.

Mortimore and Shumway had a great game, Shaffer said, with the latter coming out of his shell a bit more and getting more aggressive inside.

Looking ahead, Shaffer said the boys will be an exciting team as they continue in their high school careers. “It was a good growing year for everybody,” Shaffer said. After watching them at the tournament, he expects they’re going to be a much different team next year.

Scoring against Douglas were: Harvey — 14; Shumway — 8; McLean — 7; Snooks — 3; and Mortimore — 2.