November 29, 2012 I The Lovell Chronicle I 11
BY DAVID PECK
Michael Simmons has
learned to adjust to his
team's strengths, even if
it goes against his coach-
ing nature, and that means
more up-tempo basketball
for the guard-rich Rocky
Mountain Grizzlies in
2012-13.
Though he prefers more
of a controlled game, the
coach, now entering his
eighth year at the helm of
the Grizz, knows that his
team will once again have
more success running the
floor than pounding it in-
side, although he said the
inside game should be
much improved this year
with a bit more height and
more experience.
Last year's freshman/
sophomore dominated
team went 5-3 in the 2A
Northwest, 8-13 overall,
before winning one of three
games at the regional tour-
nament, finishing 9-15.
The Grizz return 10 play-
ers from that squad, los-
ing only Derik Romero to
graduation.
There are 24 players out
for the team, and Simmons
said pre-season practices
have been productive. He
is once again working with
veteran assistant Pat Win-
land (JV), third-year coach
Justin Moss (freshmen) and
second-year volunteer as-
sistant Jeff Samson.
"Practice is going won-
derful," Simmons said. "I
told the kids after (a re-
cent practice) that it was as
good a practice as I've ever
had in a pre-Christmas
environment.
"We had a good off-sea-
son. A lot of kids did stuff
over the summer from get-
ting in the weight room to
playing plenty of basket-
ball. They are picking up
stuff quickly, which has
allowed us to move faster
than in years past."
STRENGTHS
"We're heavy on the
guards," Simmons said
when asked about his
team's strengths, adding,
"We're not going to run out
of guards this year. Our
three seniors can handle
the ball, as well as our un-
derclassmen. It's definitely
a strength."
With a roster full of ath-
letic guards, the Grizz will
run the fast break and play
aggressive defense, Sim-
mons said.
"Our style and tempo
will be very similar to last
year, and one can argue
that it's even increased a
bit," he said. "We'll get up
and down (the court). We
had as many shot attempts
as ever last year, and I don't
see anything different this
year. It's read and react."
In the half court Rocky
will run a four-out motion,
similar to last year, with
one post player and four
guards out front, though
with the addition of another
post player to go with Kirby
Winland (John Higgins) the
Grizzlies will be able to play
some more traditional two-
post offense, as well.
"With a year more ma-
turity we can add some
things to mix it up against
certain teams," Simmons
said. Kirby is an inch big-
ger and about 15 pounds
heavier and with John
our post play is improved,
arguably more than our
guard play."
THE LINEUP
Running the team at
point guard will be senior
Michael Bernhisel and
sophomore Cannon Sim-
mons. Both are quick and
have great "basketball IQs,"
Coach Simmons said, add-
ing, "Cannon is faster, but
Michael has a good, quick
first step. Michael is a good
spot-up shooter, and Can-
DAVID PECK
Assistant coach Jeff Samson, left, and head coach Michael Simmons, right,
instruct players, including Shane Wocicki and Bryce Ward, during drills
Tuesday afternoon in Cowley.
non is a slasher."
Bernhisel averaged 8.3
points per game last year,
Simmons said.
Runningat the "two"
guard position - shoot-
ing guard -- will be senior
Shane Wocicki, junior Xavi-
er Mangus, sophomores Ca-
leb Horrocks and Tanner
Coleman and/or Bernhisel.
Wocicki has good
"length" at 6 feet tall with
long arms, Simmons said.
"He's long and tall and
is getting more confidence,"
he said. "He had a great
summer building confi-
dence. He can shoot the ball
and is a pretty good slasher.
He will go to the rim hard
and can finish with both
hands."
Horrocks was elevat-
ed to the varsity roster
late last season and gained
more confidence with a suc-
cessful football season, Sim-
mons said.
"He's hard-nosed and
has no problems getting in
and mixing it up. He'll go
after loose balls and is a
go-getter.
Mangus, though only
5-7, has great reach for his
size, Simmons said, and
though he's small he has a
knack for getting inside for
rebounds and baskets.
"He has a keen sense
for finding the ball, and
he moves well without the
ball;" the coach said.
Coleman is a strong
spot-up shooter who can
knock down three-pointers,
Simmons said.
Working at the "three"
position - wing - is soph-
omore Bill Despain, ju-
nior Joey Jewell and.senior
Bryce Ward.
Despain (6-0) is very
athletic with a good basket-
ball IQ, Simmons said, add-
ing that Despain knows the
game and provided a spark
off the bench last season.
Jewell can play three
positions, three through
five, though he is perhaps
most suited to the three,
Simmons said. He can jump
and is very athletic, he add-
ed, and has worked to im-
prove his jump shot in the
off season.
Ward (6-0) can play
both the three and the four
- forward - and led the
Grizz in scoring last season
at 12.7 points per game.
"He loves to go down
in the corner and shoot the
three, but he also has the
ability to drive the baseline
and get to the basket," Sim-
mons said. "I hope he'll do
that even more and get to
the foul line."
Returning at center,
with an ability to play for-
ward, as well, is sopho-
more Kirby Winland (6-3),
who led the team and was
among the conference lead-
ers in blocked shots as a
• freshman.
"Kirby gained lots of ex-
perience as a freshman,"
Simmons said. "He has con-
tinued to work on his jump
shot and moves with his
back to the basket. He's a
great shot contender, and
he led the team in rebound-
ing. He's capable of han-
dling the ball. His whole
game has improved."
Backing up Winland or
playing the post with Win-
land at forward will be fel-
low sophomore John Hig-
gins (6-1).
"He gained as much
strength as anybody," Sim-
mons said. "John is strong
and works hard. He played
on the line in football,
and that will carry over to
basketball.
"He battles Kirby in
practice. It's exciting to
have another big, strong
guy to go against Kirby. In
the future he'll give us the
opportunity to run a con-
ventional two-in offense."
BHB SHOOTOUT
The Grizzlies will once
again compete in the Big
Horn Basin Shootout this
weekend to open the season.
The varsity team will
meet Wind River at 4:30
p.m. Friday at Greybull
High School, then take on
Kemmerer Friday at 8 p.m.
at Riverside High School.
The Grizz will finish up
against Big Piney Saturday
at 4 p.m. in Burlington.
The JVs will meet
Wind River Friday at 2:45
p.m. in the old Greybull
gym and on Saturday will
meet Big Piney at 2:15 p.m.
at Burlington in the auxil-
iary gym.
Grizz, Mustangs prepare for
conference tournaments
BY DAVID PECK
Local middle school
boys basketball teams are
preparing for their up-
coming conference tour-
naments, with the Rocky
Mountain Grizzlies head-
ing to Meeteetse this week-
end and the Lovell Mus-
tangs going to Thermopolis
(seventh grade) and Wor-
land (eighth) the following
weekend.
The Rocky Mountain
"A" team hosted Powell for
their only action of Thanks-
giving Week last Tues-
day. The "A" team crushed
Powell 30-17 as Cole Sim-
mons and Garrett Vezain
scored 10 points each. La-
than May added 6 points,
Wyatt Horrocks and Domi-
nic Twomey 2 apiece.
Powell won the "B"
game 42-41 in overtime,
and Rocky won a two-quar-
ter "C" game 23-14.
The Grizz will travel to
Powell today (Thursday) for
a rematch with the Cubs,
with games starting at 3:30
p.m. Then it will be off to
the conference tournament
in Meeteetse Friday and
Saturday.
The top-seeded Grizz
will meet the winner of the
Ten Sleep-Cloud Peak game
Friday at 5:40 p.m., and if
they win, they will play in
the championship game Sat-
urday at 11:20 a.m. If they
lose the first game they will
play for third and fourth
Saturday at 12:40 p.m.
LOVELL RESULTS
The Lovell Middle
School eighth-grade team
swept a pair of contests
during the past week.
On Tuesday, Nov.. 20,
the Mustangs clobbered
Cody at home, 41-29, in
the "A" game and also won
the "B" game 42-27. Bran-
don Teter topped scorers in
the A game with 15 points,
while Riley Abraham, Re-
ece May, Tyler Teter and
Trace Murphey scored 6
each, Kyle Burton 2.
The following Tuesday,
Nov. 27, the A team stopped
the Powell Cubs in Powell,
32-10, as Kaleb Mayes and
Brandon Teter scored 10
points each, Tyler Teter 4
and May, Joey Mickelson,
Kade Gifford and Murphey
2 apiece.
Lovell also won the B
game 28-18.
The Lovell seventh-
grade squad played a pair
of A games on the same two
Tuesdays, falling to Cody
on the road Nov. 20, 42-16,
and falling at home Nov. 27
to Powell, 34-18.
Kyle Wolvington scored
10 points and Jeremy
Schneider 6 against Cody,
and Wolvington scored
12 points against Powell,
Schneider 4 and Kane Pa-
dilla and Antonio Garza 1
apiece.
The Mustangs are
scheduled to host Greybull
next Tuesday, Dec. 4, at
4:15 p.m.
Rocky freshmen drop opener
BY DAVID PECK
The Rocky Mountain
High School freshman boys
basketball team opened the
2012-13 season at home on
Tuesday evening, falling to
the Riverside Rebels 45-35
in Cowley.
Rocky trailed 28-14 at
the half, then cut into the
lead with a 10-3 third-quar-
ter advantage to trail 31-
24 before Riverside won the
fourth 14-11 to win by 10.
Cordell McFarlane
and Cole Wambeke scored
14 points each to lead the
Grizz, and Payton Thom-
as, Dylan Williams and Ben
Estes 2 each, Travis Banks
1.
The Grizzly frosh will
compete at the Lovell Tour-
nament this weekend.
Have a new tipr="
J~ eee
( ontact Lowll ( hronl
BY DAVID PECK
The Lovell Bulldogs
were oh so close to a state
championship last season,
and while they graduated
six seniors from the squad
including leading scorer Co-
lin May, they return sev-
en other players who saw
varsity time including the
number two, three and four
scorers.
The Bulldogs were
22-6 before falling to Wyo-
ming Indian in the Class
2A championship game
in Casper, and gone from
that strong team are Colin
and McKayan May, Collin
McArthur, Steven Pickett,
Hunter Hinckley and Mor-
gan Baxendale.
There are currently 26
players practicing for the
2012-13 season, which opens
with the Bulldogs at the Ri-
verton/Lander Tournament.
The varsity roster includes
three returning s arters:
all-state center Cod'y Sav-
age (6-6), who led the team
in rebounding a year ago at
9 caroms per game and in
blocked shots (34) and was
second in scoring at 17.6
points per game, shooting
58.3 percent from the field;
all-conference guard Dylan
Hultgren, who led the team
in assists (3.5 per game) and
was third in scoring (7.2 ppg)
and all-conference forward
Ryan Clark, who was second
in rebounding (5.9 rpg) and
fourth in scoring (6.4 ppg).
All three are seniors.
Also returning With
some varsity experience are
senior Austin Ellis and ju-
niors Brandon Wolvington,
Calin McArthur and Jacob
Adey.
So the cupboard isn't ex-
actly bare.
"Practices are going
well," coach Brian May said.
"The kids are working hard.
It seems like the younger
kids are catching on.
"We've made some mi-
nor changes offensively
based on what we felt we
needed to do with our per-
sonnel, simplifying a few
things. We'll try to use our
strengths within our offen-
sive philosophy to work in-
side but also work on our
outside game, as well."
After graduating five
wing or guard players, May
said the Bulldogs are obvi-
ously working to fill in at
the "two" and "three" posi-
tions but will also look for a
backup point guard to spell
Hultgren. He said Adey and
fellow junior Chase Tippetts
can play multiple positions
on varsity and will be hon-
ing their point guard skills
at the junior varsity level.
He expects several players
to step up their game this
season.
"It's always nice to be
able to bring back experi-
ence with three kids who
have played quality minutes
at the varsity level and have
been successful," May said
when asked about his team
strengths. "We'll be strong
at the 'one' spot to break
pressure and get into our of-
fense, and our inside pres-
ence will be strong. We're
hoping our rebounding will
be strong, not only with
Cody and Ryan but also
with Austin and Brandon."
THE LINEUP
Returning at point
guard will be senior Dylan
Hultgren, who May said has
great vision on the floor with
an ability to put the ball in
the right place.
"What I also like about
Dylan is that he's a good
ball-handler and shooter,
but we can also post him
up against smaller guards,"
• May said.
Juniors Chase Tip-
petts and J cob Adey will
back up Hultgren and also
play at the ' two" guard.
Both have improved their
ball-handling and perime-
ter shooting, May said, add-
ing that Tippetts is a strong
defender.
Junior Calin McArthur
could eventually start at the
"two" position, although he
is currently healing from a
knee injury suffered in the
state football champion-
ship game. When healthy,
May said, McArthur is one
of the team's strongest de-
fenders, an intense player
who "is not afraid to guard.
anybody."
"He has the mentality
you need in a good defender,
and his shot is improving,
too," the coach said.
Sophomores Mysen
McArthur (5-11) and Seth
Kite (6-2) are versatile play-
ers who can play the two,
three and four positions.
"Mysen can post up well
and penetrate to the bas-
ket well," May said. "He can
hit the open shot and works
well defensively. He gets out
on the wing and moves well.
"Seth can play the two,
three and four and even has
potential to play the one.
He's just a sophomore so
we'll work with him on that.
He has good length and is a
good outside shooter."
Senior Ryan Clark (6-3)
will start at the three and
can also play inside at the
four, May said.
"Ryan gives us the abil-
ity to penetrate to the bas-
ket, and he's an excellent re-
bounder," May said. "We're
hoping when the shot goes
up he'll be able to get the
offensive rebound. He does
a good job shooting the ball
and has the ability to post
up. He has good length and
nice hands for rebounding."
Working at the four will
Go local ...
Advertise now on
Wyoming's #1 rated
'small weekly newspaper'
website ...
new season
be senior Austin Ellis (6-4)
and junior Brandon Wolv-
ington (6-4).
"Austin is a pretty good
defender who jumps well,
has good speed and has the
ability to block shots," May
said. "Brandon has worked
really hard on his post
moves offensively and on his
outside shot. Both of them
have the ability to move and
get up and down the floor.
They may have to play the
five spot, as well, at times.
Starting inside at the
five and possessing the abil-
ity to play the four or even
the three is senior Cody Sav-
age (6-6).
"Cody is a real solid post
player who has the ability to
use both hands and go both
ways to the basket," May
said. "He is a good defend-
er and does a great job get-
ting up and down the floor.
His shooting has improved
with his inside game plus
his three-point range and
his mid game. His jump shot
has really improved."
WEEKEND TOURNEY
May is looking forward
to the tough competition of
the Riverton/Lander tour-
nament this weekend. The
Lovell varsity will meet
Douglas Friday at 4:30 p.m.
at Riverton High School,
Lander Saturday at 10:30
a.m. at Riverton Middle
School and Worland Satur-
day at 1:30 p.m. at RHS.
The JVs, coached by
RJ May, will meet Douglas
Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the
Lander Fieldhouse, Land-
er Saturday at 2 p.m. at the
auxiliary gym and Worland
Saturday at 5 p.m. at the
fieldhouse.
Coach Craig Lundberg
will lead the Lovell fresh-
men in the Lovell Fresh-
man Tournament this
weekend.
