Buffs bow out at regionals

By Nathan Oster

The shooting slump that plagued the Greybull Buffs in their final four games of the regular season, all of them losses, extended into the Class 2A West Regional, where they were beaten by Big Piney, 49-30, and Kemmerer, 54-45.

With the two losses in Riverton, the Buffs finished with an 8-15 mark.

“Going into the season, we knew scoring would be a concern—the question was, could we score enough to stay in games? In the end, that’s what bit us in the butt,” said Coach Logan Burningham.

The Buffs connected on 24% of their field goals against Big Piney and 23% of them against Kemmerer.

“Going into the Big Piney game, we figured if we could keep them around 45 points, we’d have a chance to win—and had it not been for some late fouls, they’d have ended up around 43,” Burningham said. “We were getting good looks. We just couldn’t get them to go in.”

The Buffs finished 0-of-14 from 3-point land, 11-of-13 from inside the arc.

Yandel Hernandez led the way with eight.

The loss dropped the Buffs into a do-or-die game against Kemmerer. The Rangers started fast, leading by as many as 15 in the second quarter. The Buffs closed the gap to eight points in the third and were within five at one point in the fourth, but could not get closer.

Carter Jacobs led the Buffs with 16, followed by Caden Hunt with 10.

“We outrebounded Kemmerer by 14 and had only seven turnovers, so that shows right there that we played a good game. Again, we just could not hit a shot.”

Final thoughts

The Buffs had a steep mountain to climb in December, with an inexperienced cast of returnees and having to replace three all-conference performers in Carlos Rodriguez, Coby Henderson and Juan Acuna, who led the Buffs to a fifth-place state finish last year.

Burningham said he told the team afterward it exceeded his preseason expectations by winning eight games. “That was more than I expected, but in the end, you’re still disappointed by not winning any games at regionals and by not making state.

“We beat every team we should have beaten, plus we got a surprise win over Shoshoni, but when you don’t make your goals, even if they are out-there goals, it’s still disappointing.”

The Buffs will lose three seniors off this year’s team: Lucas Bolzer, Cole Wisehart and Isaac Vigil.

“We’ve got the main portion of our team coming back and we’ve already started talking about getting in the weight room, being more active with team camps and spending more time on the gun (a shooting drill). It’s all going to depend on how much they’re willing to commit. If it’s the same as last year, they’ll get the same results because the teams that are going to state aren’t losing much. We have to make a big jump to get back to state.”

Big Piney 6 16 12 15 — 49

Greybull 5   6   9 10 — 30

GREYBULL — Larry Longshore 2-6 2-4 6, Caden Hunt 0-12 1-2 1, Lucas Bolzer 0-2 3-6 3, Isaac Vigil 0-1 0-0 0, Cord Edeler 0-2 0-0 0, Rex Cooper 3-4 0-0 6, Yandel Hernandez 3-8 2-4 8, Carter Jacobs 3-10 0-0 6.  Totals 11-of-45 (FGs) 8-of-16 (FTs) 30.

REBOUNDS — Greybull 32 (Jacobs 10).  STEALS — Greybull 7 (Hunt, Cole Wisehart 2).  ASSISTS — Greybull 5 (Hunt 3).  TURNOVERS — Greybull 19.

Kemmerer 18 13 12 11 — 54

Greybull 11 11 13 10 — 45

GREYBULL — Longshore 2-9 0-0 6, Hunt 4-16 0-0 10, Bolzer 0-3 2-4 2, Wisehart 0-1 0-0 0, Vigil 0-2 0-0 0, Edeler 1-8 0-0 2, Cooper 2-5 4-8 8, Hernandez 0-5 1-2 1, Jacobs 6-16 3-6 16. Totals 15-of-65 (FGs) 10-of-20 (FTs) 45.

3-POINT GOALS — Longshore 2, Hunt 2, Jacobs.  REBOUNDS — Greybull 44 (Jacobs 11).  STEALS — Greybull 7 (Jacobs 3).  ASSISTS — Greybull 6 (Hunt 4).  TURNOVERS — Greybull 7.