16 I The Lovell Chronicle I March 4, 2010 www.LovellChronicle.com
Rocky Mountain
senior JR Vezain
works over Hulett's
Curtis Clark in
the 140-pound
championship
match of the
state wrestling
tournament in
Casper Saturday
evening. Vezain won
his second straight
state title on a pin
in 1:04.
NATHAN OSTER PHOTO
Powell tournament
NBH Wrestlers hit
the mat this weekend
BY BRAD DEVEREAUX
The North Big Horn
USA Wrestling team start-
ed practice on Feb. 22 and
is currently preparing for
the team's first tournament
in Powell Saturday.
The club has 41 wres-
tlers this year, according
to Jody Lynne Bassett.
The head coach is James
Habeck and assistant coach
is Jackson Bassett.
The tournament will
be held Saturday, March 6,
at 9:30 a.m. at the Powell
High School gym. Weigh-
ins will be from 6:30 to 8:30
a.m.
USA wrestling includes
competitors from age 6 to
16. Medals will be awarded
for first, second and third
and ribbons will be awarded
for fourth, fifth and sixth.
NBHUSA practices are
held Monday from 6 to 7:30
p.m. for wrestlers 9 and
older; Tuesdays and Thurs-
days from 6 to 7 p.m. for 8
and under; and Tuesdays
and Thursdays from 6:45
to 8 p.m. for all other wres-
tlers.
State tournament provides opportunities to reach goals
BY DAVID PECK AND
BRAD DEVEREAUX
Coaches and players
work all season with one
main goal in mind: earning a
trip to the state tournament
to give themselves a chance
to win a title. State tourna-
ment time is here, and three
of north Big Horn County's
four basketball teams have
given themselves a chance
to reach the ultimate goal -
a state tournament champi-
onship trophy.
The Lovell Lady Bull-
dogs fell two points short of
their regional tournament
goal, falling to the Wyo-
ming Indian Lady Chiefs
Saturday evening, 56-55,
but as coach Bob Geiser put
it, the weekend that "really
counts" is this weekend in
Casper.
Lovell will open the
state tournament at 10:30
a.m. today (Thursday) at
Casper College against the
Southeast Cyclones, who
placed third at the 3A East
Regional. Southeast was
upset in the first round of
the regional by Sundance,
then came back to win three
straight over Lusk, Burns
and Pine Bluffs to earn a
trip to State.
The Cyclones are now
18-8.
"They're tough," Gei-
ser said. "They like to play
a good, tough man-to-man
defense. They've got a real
physical team. They want
to keep the score low. If we
set good screens and get the
lead, they'll get out of their
comfort zone, but if they can
keep it low scoring and frus-
trate us offensively, we'll be
out of our comfort zone."
If the Lady Bulldogs
win, their likely second-
round opponent would be
the top-ranked (26-0) Big
Horn Lady Rams Friday at
4:30 p.m. at the Events Cen-
ter. Big Horn likes to run
full-court pressure, and the
Lady Rams have good size,
ball-handling and shoot-
ing. Geiser called the Lady
Rams "a mirror image of
us," although they don't run
quite as much up-tempo of-
fense.
"They have lots of ex-
perience. They're going for
their third straight title,"
Geiser said. "They beat
Tongue River three times
in a row, which says some-
thing about them.
"We're looking forward
to a chance to play them."
If the Lady Bulldogs
fall to Southeast in the first
round, they will play the
loser of Thursday morn-
ing's Big Horn-Kemmerer
game at 9 a.m. Friday at
the Events Center. If they
beat Southeast but fall to
Big Horn, they would play
for third place Saturday at
10:30 a.m. at Casper Col-
lege. The 2A title game is
scheduled for Saturday at
3:30 p.m. at the Events Cen-
ter.
BACK AT STATE
The Rocky Mountain
Lady Grizzlies earned a
berth in the state tourna-
ment for the first time in
eight years with their 3-1
record in Riverton over the
weekend.
Coach Ryan Boettcher
said 2002 was the last time
the Lady Grizz qualified for
State and said the team is
excited to be competing on
the state level.
%Ve've been through
a bit of a drought and the
girls are pretty excited to be
going," he said. "Some of the
teams seem easy on paper,
but it just isn't as easy as it
seems with so many domi-
nant programs in the state.
It feels good to be a part of
the eight."
The third-place finish
sets up Rocky Mountain
to face the second-ranked
Tongue River Lady Eagles
(20-5) in the first round at
State today (Thursday) at
3:30 p.m. at Casper College.
If they beat TR, they will
play the winner of the Pine
Bluffs Wyoming Indian
game Friday at 6 p.m. at the
Events Center. If the Grizz
fall to Tongue River, they
will fall to the consolation
bracket to face the loser of
the Pine Bluffs - Wyoming
Indian contest at 10:30 a.m.
Friday at the Events Cen-
ter.
The Grizz fell to Tongue
River twice this season, 62-
43 on Dec. 11 in Byron and
42-26 Feb. 6 on the road.
In practice this week,
the Grizz have been focus-
ing on things that will help
them beat Tongue River, the
coach said, including better
ball movement.
"We played defense
well against them in the
last game, holding them
to 42 points despite about
30 turnovers," Boettcher
said. The Grizz offense was
a different story in their
last meeting, with Tongue
River's half-court pressure
trapping Rocky' Mountain a
few times, forcing turnovers
and stealing momentum
from the Grizz.
"They sit in a zone and
we have to do better at mak-
ing passes through their de-
fense," he said. ,It's a matter
of taking care of the ball."
GLAD TO BE IN
The Lovell Bulldogs
have been up and down this
season and are glad to be
participating at State after
falling to Wind River in the
first round of the 2A West
Regional in Riverton, then
upsetting third-ranked
Kemmerer to earn the state
berth.
The Bulldogs open
play tonight (Thursday) at
9 p.m. against the unde-
feated (24-0) and second-
ranked Southeast Cyclones,
making it a double Lovell-
Southeast day.
Southeast went 21-0
during the regular season,
then went 3-0 at the 2A
East Regional, defeating
Big Horn for the title, 58-
49. Lovell coach Brian May
said the Cyclones are "a se-
nior group" with good size
and athleticism.
"They've been togeth-
er for a while," May said.
"They like to create pres-
sure. They're good with
presses and they'll push the
ball up the floor. I think it's
going to be a good match-
up."
If the Bulldogs pull off
the upset, they'll meet the
winner of Thursday night's
Greybull-Tongue River
game at 9 p.m. Friday at
the Events Center. If they
fall to Southeast, they'll
take on the Greybull-TR
loser at 1:30 p.m. Friday at
the Events Center.
May said the Bulldogs
will play hard in Casper
and he's happy for the op-
portunity to continue the
team's growth.
"We have quality kids
in the program who need
experience and opportuni-
ty," he said.
Lovell boys
whistled for traveling, but Lewis missed the
front end of a one-plus-the-bonus foul shot
with 16 seconds left and Robinson hit two of
two with four ticks left on the clock to send
the game into overtime.
The overtime was thrilling. Lewis got
things going with a power move for two and
a free throw. Lovell led 54-51. Harrison had
a steal and an offensive rebound, but the
Bulldogs threw the ball out of bounds on an
entering pass and Robinson hit one of two at
the line to cut the deficit to two.
Another Lovell turnover cost the Bull-
dogs a chance to extend the lead, but Lewis
blocked a shot at the other end with a min-
ute to play. Robinson missed and fouled on
the rebound, and Savage hit one of two at
the line - 55-52 Lovell. Kemmerer needed a
trey to tie, a feat that Shane Corpening ac-
complished with 27 seconds left.
"I was yelling man, but we went into a
2-3 and they swung the ball to 5 (Corpening)
and he hit it," May said.
Looking for the last shot, the Bulldogs
were patient and eventually worked the ball
in to Lewis, who was fouled and hit one of
two at the line with five seconds left to put
the Bulldogs up 56-55. Kemmerer called
time out and set up a final shot for Robin-
Continued from page 14
son, who got a good look but saw the shot
rim out at the buzzer. Lovell players and
fans swarmed the floor to celebrate the
comeback victory.
As in the previous win over Big Piney,
the Bulldogs shot the ball well (53 percent)
and got to the foul line, hitting 15 of 23 free
throws. They had only 20 turnovers against
Kemmerer's pressure defense and forced 20 ........................................
themselves.
Lewis finished with 18 points on five-of-
nine shooting, 8-11 at the line. May added
12 points, Savage 10 to go along with six re-
bounds, three blocks and three assists. Bax-
endale had 8 points, Harrison 4 points and
seven boards.
KEMMERER (55)
Seen Wood 4 1-2 9. Shane Corpening 4 2-2 12, Cody Roberts 3 0-1
6, Cole Shimmin 1 1-2 3, Taylor Doherty 1 2-2 4, Eric Robinson 4
13-15 21. Totals 17 19-24 55.
LOVELL (56)
Colin May 3 5-7 12, Kede Baxendale 3 0-0 8, Zac HaskeH 0 0-0 0,
Tyrel Harrison 2 0-0 4, Cody Savage 4 2-5 10, Steven Pickett 1 0-0 2,
Aaron Clark 0 0-0 0, Jeff Lewis 5 8-11 18, Jonathan Wakelin 1 0-0 2.
Totals 19 15-23 56.
Kemmerer 10 18 18 5 4 -55
Lovell 14 12 8 17 5 -56
Three-point field goals - Corpening 2; Baxendale 2, May 1. Fouled
out- Doherty. Total fouls - Kemmerer 20, Lovel118.
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