Buffs eye break-even mark as the home opener nears

Published by admin on Fri, 01/03/2025 - 8:00am
By: 
Nathan Oster
With two wins at the Foothills Classic, including their first over Tongue River in nearly five years, the Greybull Buffs stamped a 3-4 month of December and positioned themselves to reach the .500 mark later this week with a win over Wind River.
The Buffs and the Cougars play Saturday afternoon at Buff Gym, with the JV at noon, varsity at 3 p.m.
“We saw Wind River at the Foothills Classic and they lost to every team we beat,” said Coach Logan Burningham.  “So we are excited to hopefully come out and get some momentum going into the second half of the season.”
Burningham did not schedule any practices last week, giving his players an entire week to recover.  They returned to practice Monday but looked sluggish – “like we’d had a week off,” he laughed.  “Hopefully we’ll be ready to go by Saturday, but it’s hard to get kids engaged when there’s no school.”
Engaged, they most certainly were, at the Foothills.  Even without one of their starters and leading rebounder in Yandel Hernandez, the Buffs easily handled Moorcroft 60-28 and slipped by Tongue River, 48-42 while losing 70-42 to Wright, the top-ranked team in 2A.
Carter Jacobs poured in 27 in the win over Moorcroft and Caden Hunt reached double figures in all three games — 19 against TR, 13 against Wright and 12 against Moorcroft — to pace the Buffs.  In their two wins, the Buffs topped 40% shooting from the field.
“Going into the weekend, I was like, ‘If we had Yandel, we could win two games. Without him, I thought if we worked hard, competed and really gave it everything we had, we still could, but it would be harder,” said Burningham. “So to come out of there with two wins, while not having Yandel,  definitely feels like we reached expectations, plus a little more.
“Our kids, from the start of the season to week one and then to week two, have come a long away and are further along than I was expecting us to be at this point.  They’re really hitting their stride.”
Burningham credited Jacobs for stepping up in the Moorcroft game, saying he “could have had 40 points, but missed four or five layups.  He got out and ran and really set the tone, and everyone else followed.  So it was great game for him.”
The Wright wasn’t close — the Panthers went on a 12-2 spurt early and the Buffs never recovered — but Burningham was pleased with his team’s bounce-back effort against the Eagles, who have a 6-foot, 7-inch post. The Buffs led 18-8 after one, but Tongue River rallied to tie and it was a “dogfight” until the end, when a Hunt 3-pointer and some key defensive stops helped Greybull prevail.
The Buffs will head into January with two more wins than they had at this time a year ago.  “We’ve gained some confidence,” Burningham said, “but we are still going to have to see growth out of everyone on our team if we are going to make it where we want to go.
“The second half will get very stout and a lot tougher, especially as we dig into conference play.
Burningham concluded by saying he’s pleased with the way his team has improved on the glass, particularly on the defensive end.  The focus has now shifted to improving the offense. It starts at the free-throw line.  With a 39% success rate, the Buffs are the least accurate team in 2A.
Moorcroft   0 14   3 11 — 28
Greybull 15 11 20 14 — 60
GREYBULL — Caden Hunt 5 0-0 12, Lucas Bolzer 1 4-8 7, Cole Wisehart 1 0-0 2, Isaac Vigil 1 2-3 4, Rex Cooper 4 0-2 8, Carter Jacobs 12 3-5 27.  Totals 24-of-60 (FGs) 9-of-18 (FTs) 60.
3-POINT GOALS — Hunt 2, Bolzer.  REBOUNDS — Greybull 49 (Vigil 10).  STEALS — Greybull 19 (Cooper, Hunt 4).  ASSISTS — Greybull 16 (Vigil 4).  TURNOVERS — Greybull 19.
Wright 21 17 23 11 — 72
Greybull 7 11 12 10 — 40
GREYBULL — Hunt 5 0-0 13, Anthony Chacon 1 1-2 3, Bolzer 6 0-2 12, Vigil 1 0-2 2, Cooper 0 1-2 1, Jacobs 4 1-2 9.  Totals 17-of-58 (FGs) 3-of-10 (FTs) 40.
3-POINT GOALS  — Hunt 3.  REBOUNDS — Greybull 36 (Bolzer 7).  STEALS — Greybull 10 (Hunt 3).  ASSISTS — Greybull 12 (Hunt 4).  TURNOVERS — Greybull 28.
Tongue R.      4 11 17 10 — 42
Greybull      18  3 10 17 — 48
GREYBULL — Hunt 7 2-4 19, Bolzer 2 0-6 5, Wisehart 1 0-0 3, Vigil 3 0-0 7, Cooper 1 0-0 2, Jacobs 6 0-0 12.  Totals 20-of-49 (FGs) 2-of-10 (FTs) 48.
3-POINT GOALS  — Hunt 3, Bolzer, Wisehart, Vigil. REBOUNDS — Greybull 24 (Vigil 6).  STEALS — Greybull 11 (Bolzer, Hunt 3).  ASSISTS — Greybull 14 (Bolzer 7).  TURNOVERS —Greybull 17.

By Nathan Oster

 

With two wins at the Foothills Classic, including their first over Tongue River in nearly five years, the Greybull Buffs stamped a 3-4 month of December and positioned themselves to reach the .500 mark later this week with a win over Wind River.

The Buffs and the Cougars play Saturday afternoon at Buff Gym, with the JV at noon, varsity at 3 p.m.

“We saw Wind River at the Foothills Classic and they lost to every team we beat,” said Coach Logan Burningham.  “So we are excited to hopefully come out and get some momentum going into the second half of the season.”

Burningham did not schedule any practices last week, giving his players an entire week to recover.  They returned to practice Monday but looked sluggish – “like we’d had a week off,” he laughed.  “Hopefully we’ll be ready to go by Saturday, but it’s hard to get kids engaged when there’s no school.”

Engaged, they most certainly were, at the Foothills.  Even without one of their starters and leading rebounder in Yandel Hernandez, the Buffs easily handled Moorcroft 60-28 and slipped by Tongue River, 48-42 while losing 70-42 to Wright, the top-ranked team in 2A.

Carter Jacobs poured in 27 in the win over Moorcroft and Caden Hunt reached double figures in all three games — 19 against TR, 13 against Wright and 12 against Moorcroft — to pace the Buffs.  In their two wins, the Buffs topped 40% shooting from the field.

“Going into the weekend, I was like, ‘If we had Yandel, we could win two games. Without him, I thought if we worked hard, competed and really gave it everything we had, we still could, but it would be harder,” said Burningham. “So to come out of there with two wins, while not having Yandel,  definitely feels like we reached expectations, plus a little more.

“Our kids, from the start of the season to week one and then to week two, have come a long away and are further along than I was expecting us to be at this point.  They’re really hitting their stride.”

Burningham credited Jacobs for stepping up in the Moorcroft game, saying he “could have had 40 points, but missed four or five layups.  He got out and ran and really set the tone, and everyone else followed.  So it was great game for him.”

The Wright wasn’t close — the Panthers went on a 12-2 spurt early and the Buffs never recovered — but Burningham was pleased with his team’s bounce-back effort against the Eagles, who have a 6-foot, 7-inch post. The Buffs led 18-8 after one, but Tongue River rallied to tie and it was a “dogfight” until the end, when a Hunt 3-pointer and some key defensive stops helped Greybull prevail.

The Buffs will head into January with two more wins than they had at this time a year ago.  “We’ve gained some confidence,” Burningham said, “but we are still going to have to see growth out of everyone on our team if we are going to make it where we want to go.

“The second half will get very stout and a lot tougher, especially as we dig into conference play.

Burningham concluded by saying he’s pleased with the way his team has improved on the glass, particularly on the defensive end.  The focus has now shifted to improving the offense. It starts at the free-throw line.  With a 39% success rate, the Buffs are the least accurate team in 2A.

Moorcroft   0 14   3 11 — 28

Greybull 15 11 20 14 — 60

GREYBULL — Caden Hunt 5 0-0 12, Lucas Bolzer 1 4-8 7, Cole Wisehart 1 0-0 2, Isaac Vigil 1 2-3 4, Rex Cooper 4 0-2 8, Carter Jacobs 12 3-5 27.  Totals 24-of-60 (FGs) 9-of-18 (FTs) 60.

3-POINT GOALS — Hunt 2, Bolzer.  REBOUNDS — Greybull 49 (Vigil 10).  STEALS — Greybull 19 (Cooper, Hunt 4).  ASSISTS — Greybull 16 (Vigil 4).  TURNOVERS — Greybull 19.

Wright 21 17 23 11 — 72

Greybull   7 11 12 10 — 40

GREYBULL — Hunt 5 0-0 13, Anthony Chacon 1 1-2 3, Bolzer 6 0-2 12, Vigil 1 0-2 2, Cooper 0 1-2 1, Jacobs 4 1-2 9.  Totals 17-of-58 (FGs) 3-of-10 (FTs) 40.

3-POINT GOALS  — Hunt 3.  REBOUNDS — Greybull 36 (Bolzer 7).  STEALS — Greybull 10 (Hunt 3).  ASSISTS — Greybull 12 (Hunt 4).  TURNOVERS — Greybull 28.

Tongue R.     4 11 17 10 — 42

Greybull     18   3 10 17 — 48

GREYBULL — Hunt 7 2-4 19, Bolzer 2 0-6 5, Wisehart 1 0-0 3, Vigil 3 0-0 7, Cooper 1 0-0 2, Jacobs 6 0-0 12.  Totals 20-of-49 (FGs) 2-of-10 (FTs) 48.

3-POINT GOALS  — Hunt 3, Bolzer, Wisehart, Vigil. REBOUNDS — Greybull 24 (Vigil 6).  STEALS — Greybull 11 (Bolzer, Hunt 3).  ASSISTS — Greybull 14 (Bolzer 7).  TURNOVERS —Greybull 17.

 

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