Bobcats continue to impress

The Hot Springs County High School Bobcat basketball team began their final round of conference play last week, with games at home and away. Location was not a factor, however, as the Bobcats came away with wins against both Shoshoni and Greybull.

Coming off of wins against Big Piney and Kemmerer in the preceding week, the Cats remained the number one ranked team in 2A, and sat atop the 2A Northwest Quad, with an overall record of 15-3, and an in-quad record of 3-0. The Cats had defeated both Shoshoni and Greybull in the first round of conference play in January.

At home on Friday night, the Bobcats were locked in an ugly game against Shoshoni. The referees were calling the game very close, and both teams found themselves in foul trouble early in the contest. Between the two teams, there were twelve fouls called in the first quarter alone.

Both teams were quickly into the bonus in each quarter, leaving the game to play out at a snail's pace on the clock. While the clock may have seemed to have stalled, on the court both teams seemed to be playing rather frantically, and both were unable to consistently maintain ball possession, leading to a large number of turn-overs.

Although it wasn't pretty, the Cats still ran up the score on the hapless Wranglers – winning the contest by 28 points (63-34). Like the Lady Wranglers, the Shoshoni boys team is rebuilding, and while success has been illusive for them this year, they are still a good team. As Coach Shane Corpening said, "They can really give you fits."

As he returns from a lower body injury, senior Brody Potter put in some good playing time, and while still looking a bit tentative at times, he appears to be on the road to full recovery. Once again, teammates Brody Welch, Dell Dukes and Armani Dukes stepped up their game - performing a legionnaire's role, whenever their buddy was not on the court.

On Saturday afternoon, the Bobcats were on the road to play in Greybull. In one of their best games of the season, the Cats had defeated Greybull on their home court on January 25. In the rematch, the Buffs were looking to find a bit of redemption – redemption that would not be forthcoming.

With the Cats not playing their best ball, Greybull tried to slow the pace in the first half and keep the Bobcats out of their usual fast paced offense. At the half, the Bobcats were up by just six points. At that point, however, things began to click for the Cats.

In the second half, the Cats hit their groove and the buckets began to drop - as intended. The Cats put up 37 points in the second half, while holding the Buffs to just 11 points.

Commenting on the game, Coach Corpening said, "It was a pretty lopsided contest in the second half. We had been a bit inconsistent in the first half, but in the second half our shooting started clicking, and we cranked up the defensive pressure, making it hard for Greybull to get the ball across half court. We are a really deep team. Brody Potter and Cody Bomengen got into some foul trouble in the first half, but we have the depth to make it uncomfortable for any team."

In their final two games of the regular season, the Bobcats will take on Wind River at home on Thursday night, and then meet Rocky Mountain at home on Friday night. Friday night is Senior Night, and with Rocky Mountain being a big game in terms of seeding for Regionals, the Cats are looking forward to a very vocal home crowd to provide some welcome support.