Young Buffs will look to gain traction as season progresses

Coach Logan Burningham is embracing the underdog role as his Greybull Buffs prepare to open the season at this weekend’s Coal Miner’s Classic in Wright and the Herder Classic in Glenrock.

With just one returning starter in Caden Hunt, the Buffs are rebuilding after losing all-stater Carlos Rodriguez, all-conference performers Coby Henderson and Juan Acuna as well as Jesus Rodriguez to graduation.

Those four accounted for 85% of the team’s scoring and 62% of its rebounding last season, which ended with the Buffs placing fifth at state and finishing 14-14 overall. 

Hunt averaged 4.7 points and 3.2 rebounds per game and is the team’s most accomplished returnee, having earned a spot alongside Rodriguez, Henderson and Acuna on the all-conference team.

Who will be joining him in the lineup has yet to be determined.

“It’s been a slow process, getting everyone caught up with how we want to run things at the varsity level,” Coach Logan Burningham said after his team’s first full week of practice.  “They’re picking things up — but it’s taking more time.

“I think this is going to be one of those years where we need to stay positive, grow and try to get to where we want to be by the end of the season.”

Burningham described Hunt, a junior, as “the guy teams are going to try to take away from us,” adding, “I’m excited for him to take over leadership of the team.”

Burningham wasn’t prepared to announce his starting five, but did say that everyone would get quality playing time at the first two tournaments.

“We’re going to go pretty deep (into our bench) to start,” he said. 

Besides Hunt, the other players who are expected to form the nucleus of this year’s team include Yandel Hernandez, Isaac Vigil, Lucas Bolzer and Carter Jacobs.

Larry Longshore was in line for a prominent role, but he broke his ankle last week in practice and is expected to be sidelined about a month.

William Harlow, Cord Edeler, Anthony Chacon, Rex Cooper and Cole Wisehart are also in the mix for varsity playing time heading into the opening weekend.

Opening weekend

The Buffs are scheduled to play four games this weekend at the Coal Miner’s Classic in Wright and the Herder Classic in Glenrock. They’ll start their journey Friday in Wright with a 1:30 p.m. game against the Panthers and finish the day in Gillette where they will face Sundance at 6:30 p.m.  

On Saturday, the Buffs will be in Glenrock, where they will play Kaycee at 3 p.m. and the Herders at 6 p.m.

“Wright is a top three team in the state, and when you’re a rebuilding team, that’s a pretty hard game to start with,” said Burningham. “But I told the guys they killed us last year and look how we turned our season out.  Hopefully we play like we’re capable of, stay in it and build some confidence.”

The Buffs didn’t play Sundance last year. “They have a lot of returning players, but it’s a team we’re excited to play,” said Burningham.

Burningham isn’t as familiar with Saturday’s opponents, describing 1A Kaycee as a team that’s “always scrappy” with “tough farm kids who rebound well.”  

“Hopefully we can hold our own from a physicality standpoint.”

Glenrock, a 3A team, is coming off a tough year, as the Herders finished 7-13.

“If we can come out of this weekend with a couple of wins, we’d be pretty happy with it,” said Burningham.

Last year, Greybull went 1-for-December, defeating only Kaycee during a rough 1-8 start.  But it’s not how you start that matters; it’s how you finish.  Last year’s team proved that, going 13-6 down the stretch.  Burningham is hoping for a repeat of that in 2024-25.