Lady Buffs improve in second tournament

The Greybull Lady Buffs showed a lot of growth and improvement in the week between the Coal Miners Classic tourney and the tournament held in Tongue River. They gave the Lady Punchers from Big Piney a run for the money in Friday’s opener before losing by two, 47-45.
On Saturday, the Buffs  gave the WIHS Lady Chiefs almost more than they could handle, leading throughout the first half and staying close all the way before youth and inexperience took their toll and the Lady Chiefs came from behind and claimed the 51-46 victory.
“We played some pretty good basketball this weekend,” said Coach Jeff Hunt, happy with the improvements his athletes have made. “We had a very difficult schedule and played a few of the top teams in the state.”
Looking to the narrow loss to Big Piney, Hunt said his Buffs “played pretty well as a team . We did a great job running the offense and getting the ball into the posts. We worked hard to get the ball inside and score and we finished with 30 points in the paint. We gave up 19 points in the second quarter and that ended up hurting us in the end. We did overcome an 11-point deficit to  take a six-point lead in the fourth quarter, but we had a couple late turnovers and they capitalized on them.”
The Buffs had a one-point lead in the final seconds but Big Piney hit a buzzer-beating three to seal the victory.
The second game of the day for the Buffs was against host Tongue River, and the results were not good for Greybull. The Eagles took a 51-27 win. The Buffs were close at the end of the first quarter, down just 11-8, but were kept to single digits in the three remaining quarters.
“We played tired in this game,” Hunt said. “TR is very athletic and they ran the floor well. We had a difficult time keeping up with them in  their transition.”
The Eagles scored 22 points in transition, he said, adding, “They killed us in rebounding. We need to do a better job boxing out against teams who run the floor and get quick shots.” 
The Buffs looked good in the game with Wyoming Indian High School Saturday. “This was our best game of the weekend,” Hunt said. “The girls played great team basketball and we were very patient on offense. We moved the ball well and took great shots. We shot 41 percent from the field.” Good shooting and good rebounding were the key in the first three quarters and the Buffs had a 13-point lead in the third period.
But the Chiefs came back in the final eight minutes. They came back and their pressure took its toll. They created some turnovers which Greybull didn’t need that late in the game.  To muddy the water further, the Lady Chiefs made their free throws when it counted, and they also hit “a few big threes,” Hunt pointed out.
Hunt said he made one big mistake — keeping Kennedy Craft in the game when she got in foul trouble. She fouled out early in the fourth quarter.
“I was proud of how we played them. They’re a very aggressive and physical team. We were composed most of the game, but we let a few late plays get to us. They took advantage.”
Coach Hunt said WIHS was the number one team  going into the weekend, “So this was a great game to show we are  capable of competing with every team in our division.”
Greybull closed out the tournament with a loss to Wright,  47-29.  “This was our fourth game of the weekend and it showed,” Hunt said. “We played tired and couldn’t get anything going offensively. The biggest difference in this game was rebounding. We gave up way too many and they took advantage.”
The Buffs have a break with no more games scheduled until after the holiday break. Coach Hunt said they will be getting in some practices and will focus on rebounding.  “We show signs of being a great team, but we need to get more consistent. I am very proud of the girls. We have come a long way already this season and our record doesn’t reflect the team we are. We have improved a lot in our shooting and shot almost 36 percent as a team this weekend. We are going to surprise some teams down the stretch. We are competing and getting better and better.”

Big Piney 10  19  6  12 - 47
Greybull  10  9  13  13 - 45
GREYBULL:  Ashtyn Chapman 1 0-0 2; Mataia Henderson  5 0-0 11; Shayne Cheatham 0 2-2 2; Perla Rodriguez 6  0-0 12; Kennedy Craft 3 1-2 7; Ashley Gomez 2 1/2 5; Marlee Henson 2 0-0 4 TOTALS: 20-55  4-6 45
TR           11  13  15  12 - 51
Greybull  8    4    9    6 - 27
GREYBULL:  Henderson 2 0-0 5; Craft 3 1-3 8; Rodriguez 5 0-0 10; Gomez 1 0-2 2; Hensen 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 12-36 1-7 27.
WIHS        8  11  13  19 - 51
Greybull  17  10  11   8 - 46
GREYBULL:  Chapman  0 2-2 2; Henderson  6 0-1 15;  1  1/4 4; Rodriguez 5 1-2 11; Craft 3 1-4 7; Gomez 3 0-0 6; Camila Acuna 0 1-2 1. TOTALS: 18-43 6-15 46
Wright        9  13  13  12 - 47
Greybull   8    3    7  11 - 29
GREYBULL:  Chapman 1 0-0 2; Henderson 2  1-3 6; Sarah Murph 1 0-0 2; Rodriguez 2 0-3 4;  Craft 2 2-4 6;  2  1/2 5; Henson 1 0-0 2; Mya Oatman  1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 12-40  4-12 29.