by nathan oster
The effort was there this time.
But the outcome was the same.
Riverside completed the sweep of its regular season series with Greybull, holding off the Lady Buffs 38-33 Thursday in a game in which the hosts hung around and gave themselves a chance to win before having the victory slip from their grasp.
Coach Marty Wrage called it a big improvement from the first meeting, won by Riverside 56-31, but lamented the little things that prevented his team from collecting its second conference victory.
“I thought it was definitely a better effort game for us, but we just didn’t score as many as we’d have liked to,” Wrage said. “But from the first game to the second game, we took care of the ball a lot better (19 turnovers), and we handled some of the things we saw better, too.”
What hurt the Buffs were fouls and free-throw shooting.
Down the stretch, the Buffs had to do without Aubree Craft, Kate Wilkinson and Kirbi Anderson.
“That’s something we have to avoid in the future — we need our kids staying in the game,” Wrage said. “We can’t have 2-3 starters fouling out.”
The Lady Buffs also hurt themselves at the line, sinking just 8 of 22 and missing several key shots from the stripe in the final quarter. Riverside, by comparison, was 17 of 35 from the line.
“We had some mental lapses, too — at least two times when they missed at the free throw line, we didn’t check out and they got their own rebound. Those are things we’re trying to remedy.  Small things that give teams an extra possession or two.”
The Lady Buffs were within one in the final minutes, with a chance to tie or take the lead from the free throw line, but failed to convert. The Lady Rebels dominated play the rest of the way, holding on to win by five.
A slow start proved costly Friday in Ethete, where the home-standing Wyoming Indian Lady Chiefs led 27-6 after one quarter and 44-15 at the half en route to the 68-31 triumph.
“We played well at times,” Wrage said, “But when you make mistakes down there, you pay for it more quickly than in other places. They scored in such quick runs. Everything is full-court, man-to-man trap.”
Jackie Miller paced the Lady Buffs with 13 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots.
“It was as good a game as she’s played in awhile,” Wrage said.
Kirbi Anderson contributed seven points and eight boards.
“Those two had strong games for us against such a quick and powerful unit,” Wrage said.
“We did some things well. We played straight man-to-man — and we hadn’t done that for awhile. After that initial run of theirs, I think we improved each quarter after that.”
A similar pattern emerged Saturday, as the Lady Buffs fell behind Burns 15-5 in the first quarter and never really recovered, losing 51-28.
“We hung around, but we showed some signs that it was our third game in three days,” Wrage said. “At times we did some good things.”
Miller tallied nine points and seven boards, Anderson nine points and nine boards and Kate Wilkinson drew praise from the coach for turning the ball over just three times from her point guard position.
“I think overall, as a team, we did well in that respect,” he said, noting the 19 turnovers in that contest. “For a team that averages 29 to 30, I thought that was a positive.”

This week
The Lady Buffs will get another shot at Rocky Mountain on Friday, then return home to host the No. 1 ranked 2A team in Big horn.
Wrage said his team has been playing better since the Rocky Mountain game — and said some of that is due to its man-to-man defense, which he expects to be a staple for the remainder of the season.
Big Horn, meanwhile, “is a lot like Tongue River,” Wrage said. “Only they have a little more of an inside presence. They are the best team in the state, in my opinion.  They are so consistent. They know how to finish games.
“This game will help us get ready for what lies ahead. We will mix defenses up a little bit and try to work on what we’ll need for the regional tournament.
“Overall, we as coaches see improvement, the players see improvement, and they are working hard in practice. We just need to keep it up.”

Riverside    6 12 1 19 — 38
Greybull    6   8 6 13 — 33
GREYBULL — Jackie Miller 0 3-6 3, Aubree Craft 4 0-0 8, Kyra Cundall 1 0-2 2, Kate Wilkinson 2 3-5 8, Kirbi Anderson 5 1-3 11, Jessica Hunt 0 1-6 1.  Totals 12 8-22 33.
3-POINT GOALS — Wilkinson.  REBOUNDS — Greybull 33 (Anderson 10).  ASSISTS — Greybull 6 (Wilkinson, Jolley 2).  STEALS — Greybull 10 (Hunt 3).  TURNOVERS — Greybull 19.

Greybull      8   9   6 10 — 31
Wyo. Indian    27 17 17   7 — 68
GREYBULL — Miller 4 5-6 13, Morgan Flitner 0 1-2 1, Craft 1 0-0 2, Cundall 1 0-0 2, Anderson 2 3-6 7, Michaela Jolley 1 1-2 3, Jessica Hunt 0 1-2 1. Totals 10 11-20 31. 
REBOUNDS — Greybull 42 (Miller 12, Anderson 8).  ASSISTS — Greybull 2.  STEALS — Greybull 2.  TURNOVERS — Greybull 35.

Greybull      5 4   9 10 — 28
Burns    15 9 17 10 — 51
GREYBULL — Miller 3 3-6 9, Flitner 1 0-0 2, Craft 1 0-0 2, Lindsay Kern 1 0-0 2, Wilkinson 0 2-2 2, Anderson 3 3-4 9, Hunt 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 8-12 28.
REBOUNDS — Greybull 26 (Anderson 9, Miller 7).  ASSISTS — Greybull 6 (Wilkinson 3).  STEALS — Greybull 5 (Miller 3).  TURNOVERS — Greybull 19.