The Lovell Chronicle, February 21, 2008, page 10
Feb: 20
"rlam
Lovell
Kemmerer
Cody
Wodand 4 8
Jackson 4 9
Lyman 3 1
8
7
11
7 I3
Thursday, February 14
Lovel 78, Rocky Mtm40
Lovel145, Powel138
Pinedale 56, Kemmerer 50
Jackson 45, Lyman 42
Saturday, February 16
Pinedale 57, Lyman 45
Kemmerer 65, Jackson 52
Powell 59, Rocky Mtn. 31
Worland 55, Cody 39
Monday, February 18
PoweU 52. Lyman 37
Tuesday, February 19
Cody 50, Lyman 35
SCHEDULE
Wednesday, February 20.
Worland at Powell, 4, 7 p.m.
Thursday, February 28
A West Regional Tournament
in Pinedale, TBA
GIRLS 3A WEST
Conf. Overall
Team W
Jackson 13
Love.
Worland
Powell S
Cody
Lyman2 11 4 1S
Pinsdale 16
Kemmerer t6
RESULTS
Thursday, February 14
Lovelt 66 ROcky Mtn. 36,
Worland 56, Greybull 37
Fridayi= February= 15
Lyman over Pinedale
Jackson 56, Kemmerer 33
Powe 53, Rocky Mtn. 25
Worland 81, Cody 59
Monday, FebruarY 18
Jackson at
By David Peck
The Rocky Mountain
Grizzlies must have felt as
if they'd been run over by
a train T?hursday night, as
a red-ho)t-shooting Lovell
Bulldog squad broke the
game wilde open early en
route to a 78-40 win over
the Grizzlies at Winterhol-
ler Gym iin Lovell.
Love]ll came out strong
and sco]red the first 14
points o)f the game be-
fore a dlrive by Adam A1-
varado rand a free throw
by Lane Friedly temporar-
ily stopped the bleeding for
the Grizz .
Seni(ors Braden Fink
and Bramdon Angell scored
4 points each for the Bull-
dogs dmring the early run
as a snnothering defense
took the Grizzlies out of
their offfense and forced
several t;urnovers.
Love ll went on to lead
21-3 at tthe end of the first
quarter, then carried a 25-
0 run deep into the second
quarter to lead 39-3 before
Carlos :Hernandez hit a
three-po)inter to interrupt
the run.
Fink scored 7 points
during the run on a power
spin mo)ve, a put-back and
a trey, Hyrum Check-
etts ad(ded three baskets
and Gramt Geiser a pair of
treys fore 6 points each. The
Bulldog ,s were hot inside
and out
Lov ll went on to lead
46-10 att halftime.
Roclky coach Michael
Simmons said the first-half
effort byt the Grizz was puz-
zling.
"It was a head-scratch-
ing firstt half," he said. "As
a staff, we felt comfortable
the kids would come out
and compete. The rival-
ry naturally breeds that.
Shame on me for not cre-
ating enough energy be-
fore th,e game, but in the
past it's just naturally been
there.
"I tlhink there was a lit-
tle bit o)f fear in our players'
eyes from the beginning,
but I give Lovell credit. We
had them shooting 65.4 per-
cent for two-point shots and
66.7 percent from three-
point range in the first half.
Lovell did some good things
early and shot over 50 per-
cent for the game. That will
win you a lot of games."
Lovell coach Joe Korit-
nik agreed that his team
played well against the
Grizz.
"We played hard defen-
sively," he said. "They had
trouble attacking the bas-
ket and had a lot of turn-
overs early. Offensively,
as much as anything we
seemed to be very relaxed.
We had good shot selection
and moved the ball inside
like we wanted to.
"They didn't play as
hard as they did in their
gym We played very well
and played with a lot of
confidence."
" Rocky came out with
more energy in the sec-
ond half. Alvarado led an
8-0 run for the Grizzlies
with a pair of treys midway
through the third quarter,
but the Bulldogs finished
the quarter with an 11-
0 run to lead 63-22 at the
break.
The Grizzlies finally got
rolling in the fourth quarter
and outscored the Bulldogs
18-15. Alvarado scored 9 of
his team-high 17 points in
the fourth.
"We talked at the half
that we can't coach height
and we can't coach quick-
ness, but it's a personal
reflection on the program
when we don't give 100 per-
cent," Simmons said. "We
expect it regardless of the
score or regardless of who
we're playing. I was proud
of the kids for responding
to that. We did play a lot
harder in the second half."
Koritnik said he chal-
lenged his team to keep
playing hard at the defen-
sive end of the floor but
said they weren't as effec-
tive with the big lead and
with some backup players
in the game. He said it was
great to get Wes Schmidt,
Trevor Harrison and Wes
Mangus some quality play-
ing time.
Fink finished with 20
points, eight rebounds and
five assists in a strong
all-around performance.
Checketts added 18 points
and five rebounds, Geiser
15 points and bombed in
five of six from beyond the
arc to go with five steals and
four assists. Angell had 14
points, six rebounds, four
blocked shots and three
assists, Jameson 6 points,
seven rebounds, four steals
and three assists.
For the Grizz, Alvara-
do had 17 points and three
steals, Korey Hocker 9
points and nine rebounds,
Friedly 5 points and four
rebounds, Hernandez 5
points and three stdals and
KJ Blackburn 4 points and
five boards.
Lovell shot the ball
well, hitting 34 of 56 shots
overall (61 percent) and
seven of 11 (64 percent)
from three-point range.
Rocky shot 30 percent from
the field.
The box score:
ROCKY MTN. (40)
Caleb Boardman 0 0-0 0, Luis Jurado 0 0-0
0, Korey Hocker 4 0-1 9, Adam Alvarado 6
2-2 17, Lane Friedly 0 5-6 5, Randall Mann
0 0-0 0, Sam Seitz 0 0-0 0, KJ Blackburn
2 0-0 4, Carlos Hernandez 2 0-0 5. Totals
14 7-9 40.
LOVELL (78)
Grant Geiser 5 0-0 15, Trevor Harrison 0
0-0 0, Wes Mangus 0 0-0 0, Dane Robert-
son 1 0-0 2, Scotty Jameson 3 0-0 6, Wes
Schmidt 1 0-0 3, Brandon Angell 7 0-2 14,
Hyrum Checketts 9 0-0 18, Braden Fink 8
3-5 20. Totals 34 3-7 78.
Rocky 3 7 12 18-40
Lovell 21 25 17 15-78
Three-point field goals -Alvarado 3,
Hocker 1, Hernandez 1; Geiser 5, Schmidt
1, Fink 1. Fouled out - none. Total fouls
- Rocky nine, Lovel115.
Lovell JVs win
Lovell won the junior
varsity game, also, 52-36,
jumping out to a 17-3 lead
after the first quarter and
maintaining the margin af-
ter that. Shane Dickerson
DAVID PECK
Rocky Mountain junior Adam Alvarado drives in-
side against Lovell center Brandon Angell during
Thursday's game at Winterholler Gym.
led the Bulldogs with 12
points and Josh Scheffler
added 11, Tyrel Harrison
8, Wes Mangus and Jeff
Lewis 6 each, Wes Schmidt
5 and Trevor Harrison and
Ben Long 2 each.
For the Grizz, BJ Foster
scored 14 points, Guy Jones
and Brandon Bulanek 6
each, Luis Jurado and Ran-
dall Mann 5 apiece.
at Pinedale
BOYS 2A NORTHWEST
Conf. Overall
I
2A
Thermop vs.
Greybull
Rock
~ovell
Tongue RiVer
Poweil
Mtn.
Third-
By David Peck
It ]looks like the Lovell
Bulldo gs have adjusted to
the rtugged style of Class
3A ba,sketball just fine. In
yet amother tough defen-
sive b attle, the Lovell Bull-
dogs cilinched the 3A West
Conference regular season
title Friday night by stop-
ping the Powell Panthers
45-38 at Winterholler Gym
in Lovell.
The game certainly
wasn't a work of art, but
the Bulldogs persevered to
run their conference record
to 11-1 and their overall
mark to 18-1.
"We wanted to win
DAVID PECK
Lowell senior Dane Robertson rises for a jump-
er over Powelrs Mitchell McArthur during Friday
night's game in Lovell. The Bulldogs host Cody to-
night (Thursday) at 7:30 p.m.
the conference champion-
ship outright and do it at
home," coach Joe Koritnik
said. "We were motivated
to come out and play well
against Powell. It was a
pretty even ballgame. We
shot the ball a little bet-
ter."
Powell came out strong
and gradually took a 7-2
lead as the Bulldogs strug-
gled shooting the ball. But
the Bulldogs were tough on
defense and shut the Pan-
thers out over the last four
minutes of the first quar-
ter. Meanwhile, a drive by
Brandon Angell and an in-
side power move by Braden
Fink kept the Bulldogs
close at 7-6, but neither
team scored in the last 2:50
of the quarter.
Two baskets by Hyrum
Checketts put Lovell up 10-
7 in the second quarter, and
the Bulldogs blanked the
Panthers for the first four
minutes of the quarter, ex-
tending their drought to
more than eight minutes.
Back to back three-
pointers by Scotty Jameson
and Grant Geiser and an
inside bank shot by Check-
etts boosted the Lovell lead
to 18-9 before the Panthers
scored their only basket
of the second quarter - a
jumper by Galen Mills - to
cut the Lovell lead to 18-11
at the half.
A Jameson follow shot
and a trey by Geiser boost-
ed the Lovell lead to 23-11
early in the third quarter,
and it looked like the Bull-
dogs might pull away. But
Powell scored three bas-
kets to cut the lead to 23-17
before Koritnik called time
out. LoveU responded with
a Checketts jumper and
two free throws by James-
on to lead 27-17.
Treys by Powell sharp-
shooter Michael Hildeb-
rand cut the lead to 27-23,
but Jameson nailed a trey
to kill the Powell momen-
tum. Two free throws at
the end of the quarter kept
Powell in range trailing 30-
25 after three.
The Bulldogs took it in-
side in the fourth quarter as
Fink scored 7 and Angell 5.
The Panthers scrambled to
come back and got to with-
in three points at 41-38 be-
fore Geiser put a nail in the
coffin with a follow jump
shot with about a minute
and a half to play. Powell
didn't score again and the
Bulldogs upped the final
margin to seven with free
throws down the stretch.
"We seemed to always
respond to their shots," Ko-
ritnik said. "Our big guys
down the stretch did a good
job finding each other, and
Scotty's three (in the third)
was huge.
"It was typical.
eryone (in the conference)
plays that style, and no-
body blows anyone out."
Jameson led a bal-
anced Lovell attack with
10 points to go with five
steals and five rebounds.
Angell and Fink added 9
points, two blocks and five
rebounds each, Checketts 9
points, two blocks and four
boards. Geiser finished
with 8 points, six rebounds
and four assists. Dane Rob-
ertson didn't score but had
nine rebounds.
Powell won the JV game
40-23, pulling away after
a close first quarter. Wes
Schmidt scored 5 points for
the Bulldogs, Wes Mangus,
Ben Long, Tyrel Harri-
son and Jeff Lewis 4 each,
Shane Dickerson 2.
The varsity box score:
POWELL (38)
Jordan Brown 0 2-3 2, Gavin Mills 0 1-2
1, Galen Mills 2 1-2 5, Ryan Brandt 4 0-0
8, Michael Hildebrand 4 1-2 12, Mitchell
McArthur 4 0-0 10, Matt McArthur 0 0-0 0.
Totals 14 5-9 38.
LOVELL (45)
Grant Geiser 3 0-0 8, Dane Robertson 0
0-0 0, Scotty Jameson 3 2-2 10, Brandon
Angel14 1-3 9, Hyrum Checketts 4 1-3 9,
Braden Fink 4 1-3 9. Totals 18 5-11 45.
Powell 7 4 14 13-38
Lovell 6 12 12 15-45
Three-point field goals - Hildebrand 3,
Mitchell McArthur 2; Geiser 2, Jameson
2, Fouled out - none. Total fouls - Powell
12, Lovell 9.
Final weekend
The Bulldogs will host
Cody tonight (Thursday)
for the final home game of
the season, then travel to
Worland Friday for the reg-
ular season finale.
Tonight, Lovell hopes
to avenge a 47-33 loss the
team suffered at Cody on
Jan. 25, then adjust to
the fast-paced style of the
Worland Warriors Friday
on the road. Games both
nights are at 4 (JV) and
7:30 p.m.
Koritnik said the team
has broken down the re-
mainder of the season into
three segments: the three
final conference games (in-
cluding Powell), the re-
gional tournament and the
state tournament.
'Tee're taking it one
game at a time," he said.
"We're getting ready for
Cody, then Worland.
Thefre coming together
as a team and have been
tough down the stretch."
The Cody game will
be much like the Powell
game, Koritnik said, tough
and physical, and the ke ;
will be to keep post play-
ers Wrevor Feusner, Pres-
ton Randolph and Trevor
Morton off the boards and
defend guard Zach Paris
outside.
"We'll have to rebound
well and challenge inside,"
he said. "We'll have to hit
perimeter shots, too, to
keep the inside open. They
like to sag in their man de-
fense."
Worland has won three
straight games, beating
Jackson 58-53, Greybull
82-37 and Cody 55-39. Not
only do the Warriors have
Chantz Ramos and his
"non-stop energy," Koritnik
said, but they're getting
contributions from other
players like Robert Heyer
and will attack the basket
and pass off when double-
teamed.
"They transition well
and will throw it over the
top," Koritnik said. "We'll
have to make sure we get
back."
