Buffs open with two wins in Glenrock

By: 
Nathan Oster

They didn’t get a sweep, but the Greybull Buffs gained a pair of wins — and every bit as important, some insights about themselves and where they need to improve — at last weekend’s Herder Classic in Glenrock.

Greybull lost its opener to Wright, 68-59, but rallied to claim its next two, downing 3A Glenrock 48-39 and 1A Kaycee 48-36 to leave town with a winning record.  While thankful for that, Coach Logan Burningham wasn’t particularly pleased about his team’s play.

Turnovers were a problem — the Buffs had 33 against Wright, 27 against Glenrock and 30 against Kaycee.  The miscues against Wright were one thing; the Panthers return nearly everyone from last year’s squad which placed fifth at state and full-court, man-to-man pressed the Buffs the entire game. Making matters worse, the Buffs were missing their starting point guard, Coby Henderson.

“Another ballhandler definitely would have helped,” said Coach Logan Burningham, adding that the Panthers were able to convert many of those Greybull miscues into transition buckets. 

But it was the turnover count against Glenrock and Kaycee that really bothered the coach.  “They didn’t pressure us that much — we definitely shouldn’t have had as many as we did,” he said, adding that conditioning may have contributed to the mental mistakes.

Some bright spots emerged, too.  The biggest?  “When games got tight, we found ways to get a good shot off and get a basket when we needed to,” said Burningham.

Senior Ethan Goton and junior Carlos Rodriguez posted double-doubles in the loss to Wright, with Goton going for 19 (points) and 11 (boards) and Rodriguez chipping in 14 and 10.  Rodriguez, the team’s only returning all-stater, topped all Greybull scorers in the two wins, pouring in 20 against Glenrock, 14 against Kaycee.

Burningham also saw silver linings in the way his team crashed the board — a team goal is to lead the state in rebounding, and after week one, the Buffs top the 2A ranks — and in the development of Juan Acuna and Aiden Reece, both of whom had to shoulder more of the playmaking responsibilities with Henderson sidelined.

 

This week

Next up on the schedule is the Foothills Classic with games Friday and Saturday in Ethete and Pavilion.  

The Buffs will be at Wyoming Indian High School on Friday, facing St. Stephens at 1:30 p.m. and Big Horn at 4:30 p.m.  Their only game on Saturday, a 12:30 p.m. encounter with Big Piney, will be played at Wind River High School.

Burningham said he expects Big Horn to be his team’s toughest test. The Rams are ranked No. 2 in 2A and won all their games last weekend.  Their offense revolves around 6-8 center Tobias Schons, who averaged 16 ppg over the three games. And as Southwest Conference teams, Big Piney (1-1) and St. Stephens are potential regional tournament opponents for the Buffs. 

Burningham called it an important weekend for his team, saying he’d like everyone to go into the holidays with a winning record and a little extra spring in their steps.

The first home varsity and JV games of the season are Friday, Jan. 6 against Wyoming Indian.

 

Wright       22 13 16 17 — 68

Greybull     20 11 12 16 — 59

GREYBULL — Ethan Goton 8-9 2-4 19, Juan Acuna 0-4 0-0 0, Aiden Reece 6-9 0-0 13, Cade Cooper 1-8 3-4 5, Cale Wright 2-9 0-1 6, Carlos Rodriguez 4-11 6-10 14, Isaak Gaytan 0-3 0-0 0, Beto Diaz Rios 1-2 0-0 2.  Totals 22-of-55 11-of-19 59.

3-POINT GOALS — Wright 2, Reece, Goton.  REBOUNDS — Greybull 43 (Goton 11, Wright 8).  STEALS — Greybull 18 (Diaz-Rios, Rodriguez 4).   ASSISTS — Greybull 13 (Wright 4).  TURNOVERS — Greybull 33.

Glenrock     10   6 8 15 — 39

Greybull     18 10 5 15 — 48

GREYBULL — Goton 2-7 0-0 4, Acuna 0-2 0-0 0, Reece 3-8 0-0 7, Cooper 2-8 0-0 4, Wright 4-14 3-4 13, Rodriguez 8-18 4-8 20, Diaz Rios 0-1 0-0 0.  Totals 19-of-58 7-of-12 48.

3-POINT GOALS — Wright 2, Reece.  REBOUNDS — Greybull 44 (Goton 11, Rodriguez 10).  STEALS — Greybull 20 (Rodriguez 6).  ASSISTS — Greybull 7 (Goton 4).  TURNOVERS ­— Greybull 27.

Kaycee         9 10   6 11 — 36

Greybull      13 13 11 11 — 48

GREYBULL — Goton 2-5 0-0 4, Acuna 0-2 0-0 0, Reece 3-9 0-2 6, Cooper 1-2 2-2 4, Wright 4-12 1-3 12, Rodriguez 4-10 5-6 14, Diaz-Rios 4-5 0-0 8.  Totals 18-of-45 8-of-13 48.

3-POINT GOALS — Wright 3, Rodriguez 1.  REBOUNDS — Greybull 35 (Rodriguez 14).  STEALS — Greybull 10 (Cooper 3).  ASSISTS — Greybull 10 (Wright, Rodriguez 3).  TURNOVERS — Greybull 30.

 

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