Late rally lifts Lady Buffs to win over Rebs

The Greybull Lady Buffs and the Lady Rebels from Riverside met last Thursday, and as it should be between friendly rivals, battled it out through four quarters with the Buffs coming out on top of the 45-41 ending.

“It was a great game,” said Greybull Coach Jeff Hunt, “from start to finish. It took several minutes for either team to get on the scoreboard.” 

At the end of the first quarter the Rebels led 10-6. 

“Riverside has some great athletes and they take advantage of it,” Hunt commented.  “They have size, speed they attack the basket well.”

As for the Buffs, Hunt said they had a hard time keeping Riverside’s leading scorer, Brooklyn Paxton, out of the key.  It was a struggle the whole game as Paxton finished with a team-high 18 points.

“Our plan was to keep her in front of us and not allow drives to the basket. We did a great job for two quarters and that proved to be enough.”

At the end of two quarters, the game was knotted at 18.

Hunt said in the first half, Riverside was getting a lot of second-chance points, but the made the needed adjustments. Hunt said the 45-41 victory was a great team win.  Three players were in double digits. Marlee Hensen, just back in the lineup after suffering an injury, led the pack with 12 points. “She did a great job driving to the basket and they couldn’t slow her down,” Hunt said.  

Camila Acuna was also lauded for her performance.  “She really stepped up and did a great job scoring and rebounding,” Hunt said. She ended the game with 11 points to go with eight rebounds.  

Perla Rodriguez was double-teamed a lot, but still managed to score 10 points.  Caitlyn Hunt “brought a lot of energy off the bench,” said Hunt. She is aggressive, she attacked the  basket on offense and got to the free-throw line four times.”

The Lady Buffs will resume Class 2A Northwest Conference play this weekend with games at Rocky Mountain Friday at 5:30 p.m. and versus Thermopolis at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Buff Gym.

Greybull   6 12 11 16 — 45

Riverside 10   8 15   8 — 41

GREYBULL — Jasmine Rodriguez 0-2 0-0 0, Caitlyn Hunt 1-4 4-8 6, Mataia Henderson 0-4 0-0 0, Shayne Cheatham 1-4 1-1 4, Marlee Henson 6-10 0-2 12, Sherlyn Diaz-Rios 0-4 0-0 0, Perla Rodriguez 4-8 2-6 10, Camila Acuna 4-9 3-5 11, Mya Oatman 1-1 0-0 2.  Totals 17-of-46 10-of-25 45.

3-POINT GOALS — Cheatham.   REBOUNDS — Greybull 29 (Acuna 8). STEALS — Greybull 17 (Henson 5).  ASSISTS — Greybull 11 (Diaz-Rios 4).  TURNOVERS — Greybull 16.