Bobcat boys basketball opens at East-West Classic in Douglas

Thermopolis Boys Basketball got off to a rough start this past weekend, with three losses at the East-West Classic at Douglas, 65-38 against Lander, 59-42 against Lovell and 74-45 against Riverton.

As for the Lander game, which was the boys’ first for the season Coach Kevin Gerber said he felt good about the defensive focus they went into the season with, a focus for the first three weeks. He noted they went from being zone defense last year to man-to-man defense this year and he felt good about the boys’ ability to go man-to-man.

“We definitely saw some really good things,” Gerber said, “and then there are some things we need to work on.” He likes the direction they’re going in with the new defense, and pointed out their intensity level seems to have picked up because of it and their foul counts are actually down compared to last year.

There was a bit of a blow to the team early in the second half of Lander game, when Noah Schwalbe was coming across the lane to catch a pass and a Lander player went to get the ball. The Lander boy’s finger went in Schwalbe’s eye and scratched his cornea. Schwalbe was sent to the emergency room, and the ailment put him out for at least a week. Gerber said it was scary losing a senior leader someone he knows is a good performer, but was really happy with how everyone stepped up and they played well.

Gerber said in their first game he saw some great things, such as Hudson Roling’s 14 points and six rebounds and Dustin Harvey’s coming off the bench and scoring seven. He also saw a team that took care of the ball a lot better than they have in the past. Gerber noted Roling has definitely stepped up to be a leader on the court.

Cade Zupan had a sprained ankle early in the week, so it was planned to have sophomores Sterling Gerber and Jarron Mortimore to start. Zupan did some treatments through the week and was able to play, though Gerber was still able to start. There is a great group of sophomores coming up, the coach said, who are fighting for positions and time on the court. “We have such a great group of boys that push each other,” Gerber said, so during practice there’s no dominant five and a second group that can’t keep up. “That’s going to make us better as the season goes on. Everybody’s going to get better.”

Gerber also noted senior Strite Daniels, who came out this year, gave some good minutes following Schwalbe’s injury which was a good confidence builder for him and the coaching staff.

Scoring for the Lander game included: Hudson Roling, 14; Dustin Harvey, 7; Noah Schwalbe, 5; Jarron Mortimore, 4; Cade Zupan, 4; Sterling Gerber, 2; and Sean Miller, 2.

Saturday morning saw Thermopolis playing Lovell. Gerber said there were some bumps with a new clock crew and book crew, so there was some difficulty in making sure the clock was stopped correctly and the scores and foul counts were accurate. The coach said it’s an outside thing that was unfortunate, but is by no means why we lost the game.

Gerber said they played well, Roling again stepping up with 24 points and 12 rebounds, as well as having confidence with the ball. Zupan improved as the weekend progressed, Gerber said, taking seven points and nine rebounds.

The biggest struggle came with handling the ball. While there were good passes made by everyone, they didn’t have strong hands catching the ball. The team stepped up with rebounds, beating Lovell 10-4 on offensive rebounds and 25-24 on defensive. Gerber said it might have been a different game if Schwalbe was available.

Of Lovell, Gerber said they’re always good competition for them and a team that is fairly matched with them. They’re a well-coached team as well, he added, and he looks forward to playing them again when school resumes in January.

Scoring against Lovell included: Hudson Roling, 24; Cade Zupan, 7; Jarron Mortimore, 4; Sterling Gerber, 3; Dustin Harvey, 2; and Sean Miller, 2.

Saturday afternoon, Thermopolis went up against Riverton. Gerber noted there were again strong performances from Zupan and Roling. He said the team did a good job moving the ball, pointing it was hard to physically match Riverton as they have a 6’8” center. “When we went in and tried to challenge him, I think we found ourselves fading away from him instead of going into him. Because of that, he got some blocks.”

Our boys still did well, Gerber said, with the Riverton leading 14-10 in the first; a three-point buzzer beater from Roling put them just four behind. Though they were outscored the rest of the game, Gerber said once the Bobcats got on the board the coaching staff saw some good things happening. He said they need to work on coming to the court with some intensity and dictating the pace rather than allowing the other teams to determine how hard they need to go.

Scoring against Riverton included: Hudson Roling, 18; Cade Zupan, 14; Strite Daniels, 4; Sean Miller, 4; Sterling Gerber, 3; and Jarron Mortimore, 2.

Gerber said this was Sean Miller’s first real varsity experience. “He’s coming in new to the varsity game but, man, he’s got a motor that just doesn’t stop. He’s always working hard and always moving. Sometimes that gets him in trouble, but for the most part he really works hard and I appreciate that. I just know he’s only going to get better as the season goes on.”

It’s exciting to also have returning varsity players Schwalbe and Roling in the senior year, Gerber noted, but sad to know they’ll be moving on. Gerber added Zupan attended several camps this summer and is showing he can be a strength for the team as well.

It was disappointing to come away from the tournament with three losses, but the team came away with a positive attitude, Gerber said, and they continued to push the whole time. They took steps in the right direction, he said, and he also felt confident enough to make adjustments while they were playing. “I think that was the first time I confidently felt like I could make the adjustments and the team followed suit. I could call something from the sidelines, they knew exactly what I was talking about and they went out and executed it.”

The team will have practices during the break, with their next games at the Big Horn Basin Classic here and at Worland Jan. 5 and 6. They’ll take on Lovell again, and their second game will be against either Shoshoni or Cody. Gerber’s hopeful to play against Cody, as they are ranked in the top five.