Sports

The Greybull Buffs were unable to get on track in their first two games of the new year, as they continued to be plagued by a sputtering offense in a 65-43 loss in Burlington Thursday night and a 68-44 setback in their home opener against Wind River Saturday afternoon.

Greybull took a 1-5 record into its game Tuesday night in Thermopolis, and with the start of Class 2A Northwest Conference play on the horizon, time is starting to run out in the search for answers to what ails the Buffs.

The Greybull Buffs came within a basket of qualifying for last year’s State 2A Basketball Championships. As disappointing as that 50-48 regional loss to Tongue River was, coaches and players found comfort in the fact that the core of the team would get another shot.

Ben Kraft was the only senior who saw quality minutes in Riverton and his combination of scoring (11.3 ppg), defense and leadership will be tough to replace. But on the sunny side, the Buffs return everyone else who contributed to that regional squad, including seniors Jesus Hernandez and Isaac Thueson. 

The Greybull Lady Buffs gave everything they had and a little bit more when they played the Big Horn Lady Rams in the opening round of the 2A state volleyball tournament in Casper Nov. 5.

Playing what could have been their best match of the year, the Buffs went out swinging, not giving an inch. Their fight and determination gave them wins in the first two sets, 25-17, 25-18. 

Things were looking very good.

Facing a must-win situation, the Greybull Buffs scored 22 unanswered points in the second half to defeat Riverside 28-12 and keep their playoff hopes alive Friday night in the first gridiron matchup between the two rival schools since 2014.

The Buffs entered play as the only team in the West without a conference win.  When the final horn sounded, they had moved into a three-way tie with the Rebels and the Wind River Cougars, all of whom are vying for the league's final two spots in the playoffs which begin Oct. 30.