Bobcats set to host Douglas, Newcastle

The Bobcats faced two losses this past week, with scores of 69-25 against Buffalo on Feb. 13 and 73-35 at Rawlins on Feb. 16.

The game against Buffalo was a make up game for the Bobcats after the game was cancelled the Friday before. Coach Kevin Gerber stated, "I feel like we had a good game plan put together but we didn't execute it very well. It really came down to ball control and we had 30 turnovers due to some heavy pressure from Buffalo. Our turnovers turned into easy layups for them and 42 of their 69 points came off of turnovers." Unfortunately, he added, we just didn't make very many of our shots either.

"It was a fast paced game and we didn't match the intensity that Buffalo brought to our gym," Gerber said. "However, I feel like the boys responded well and came back to practice with the idea of knowing that the performance was not good enough. The boys focus changed and I felt the team brotherhood start coming together after a team dinner."

Scoring against Buffalo were Hudson Roling - 10, Sterling Gerber - 6, Noah Schwalbe - 5 and Jarron Mortimore - 4.

As for the game against Rawlins, Gerber stated they were "going up against a team that was feeling really good about where they were at after beating Buffalo the weekend before. We came out and matched their intensity right away in the first quarter and were down 7-9 at the end of the first.

"We did a good job of taking care of the ball, moving it around and finding the open man. We were down Cade Zupan with a sprained ankle he suffered in practice the night before so that hurt our depth with our big men, but also left an opportunity for Logan Shumway to step in and help with that role."

With Rawlins having three players at 6'4" or taller, Gerber said it was a tough task but "I really believe that our boys did a great job of attacking the hoop and giving themselves multiple opportunities to score, however the flow of the game was really just not ever able to get going. We only got up 10 free throws to their 30 and that seemed to take us out of the game in the second quarter. They outscored us 23-2, but again the energy of the boys was good going into the halftime locker room. They were upbeat and Hudson (Roling) really was talking it up in the locker room to make sure everyone was on the same page. We had a strong third quarter where we matched them bucket for bucket until late where they had a little run on us and we were outscored 23-17. A few minutes into the fourth, Hudson fouled out on a charge call, but I had numerous boys step up and play hard in the fourth. Our younger guys got some great experience on the court in a lot of the fourth quarter and I believe that can really pay off as the tournaments are so close."

Scoring against Rawlins were Schwalbe - 10, Sean Miller - 6, Roling - 5, Gerber - 4, Strite Daniels - 3, Oran Coyne - 2, Dustin Harvey - 2, Mortimore - 2 and George - 1

Rolling also had six rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks. Harvey snagged four rebounds, Mortimore made three blocks and Miller had six rebounds.

The boys will take on Douglas and Newcastle this weekend. Gerber said, "We have a chance to see one or both of these teams in the Regional tournament so I am excited to go and give our best effort this weekend. The boys are really ready to play their best basketball of the year and it is time for them to prove some things to themselves.

It will also be Thermopolis' Senior Night against Newcastle for Roling, Schwalbe, Zupan and Daniels and Gerber wants them "to get the most out of that experience. I am excited to go into this weekend with high expectations and a lot of momentum to get us into the Regional Tournament."

Tipoff for the Douglas game is Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. Tipoff for the Newcastle game is Saturday at 2 p.m.