Sputtering offense plagues Buffs in conference losses

Coach Logan Burningham and the Greybull Buffs were hoping the start of conference play would snap them out of a January swoon that had seen them drop five straight and fall below the .500 mark for the first time this season.

It was not to be, as the Buffs shot a frigid 27% from the field in a 50-38 loss at Rocky Mountain Friday and couldn’t keep up with reigning 2A champion Thermopolis Saturday at Buff Gym, where they lost 68-41.

The Buffs’ record, a solid 5-3 coming out of the holidays, is now 6-10.

“I think we’re still OK, but the one thing you worry and complain about a little is if you get bad matchups in the Big Horn Basin tournament, it can put you in a slump,” said Coach Logan Burningham. “Jeff (Hunt, head coach of the Lady Buffs) and I may be looking to change that up in the future.

“Those top 3A teams put the wood to us pretty good. You want some momentum going into conference play.”

Against the Grizzlies, the Buffs showed good intensity on the defensive end and had only three turnovers, but the shooting stats told the tale.  They finished 15-of-55 from the field, good for 27%; In fact, they were better from deep, hitting 30% of their 3s compared to 26% inside.

“It’s been our issue the last couple years, but we just can’t make a shot at times,” Burningham said. “And give the Rocky coaches credit; they’re great at scouting.  They packed the paint, so on every cut or drive to the basket, we’d have two or three kids waiting for us.”

Burningham added, “It goes back to the same stuff.  We need to have kids putting in more time outside of practice, working on the shooting gun, doing things on their own and spending extra time after practice to get their shot where it needs to be for the last month of the season.  

“It’s on us as coaches, too, to run more shooting drills in practice that simulate the game experience.”

Larry Longshore led in scoring with 12, assists with three and steals with two.

Rex Cooper chipped in 11 points and six rebounds.

Burningham and the Buffs knew they’d have a tough task waiting for them in Thermopolis. The Bobcats ran the table at the recent Big Horn Basin Hoops Classic. Their run included a victory over 3A’s top-ranked Lovell Bulldogs.  Thermop entered Saturday’s game as the No. 2 ranked team in 2A.

“You can tell they’ve spent a lot of time in the weight room and played a lot of ball outside the season,” Burningham said. “They’re ahead of our kids in those respects.

“Plus they have two kids who are 6-5, 6-6, with a couple very talented guards around them. It’s just a very well-rounded team.  You take one thing away, they get you with another.” 

The Buffs started well, trailing by just four at the first quarter break.  The margin was still four at the midway point of the second, 21-17, when the Bobcats went on a run, building a 12-point halftime lead.  They all but turned the lights out on the Buffs with a 24-9 third-quarter burst.

The Buffs shot a little better than they did in Cowley, hitting 31% from the field, but regressed in other areas, going 3-of-11 from the stripe and committing 16 turnovers.

Yandel Hernandez was the only Buff to reach double figures, finishing with 10. Cooper had a team-high seven boards.

This week

The Buffs close out the first round of conference play with varsity and junior varsity games Friday night in Shoshoni (4 and 7 p.m.) and Saturday afternoon at Buff Gym against Tongue River (1 and 4 p.m.).

With two wins over Tongue River in December, Burningham said the Shoshoni game would be the focus of this week’s practices. The Wranglers don’t have the size of teams like Rocky and Thermop, but “like to shoot the 3 and have had some success moving the ball around to get good shots.”

“Hopefully we can use our rebounding strength — it  really was a key to our success prior to this recent stretch of games — and get some good post-ups inside for Rex and Yandel.  We still have everything we need to happen in front of us, but it needs to start with beating Shoshoni and trying to end the second half of the conference schedule in a positive way.”

Rocky Mt. 15 7 10 18 — 50

Greybull   8 8   8 14 — 38

GREYBULL — Larry Longshore 4 2-2 12, Caden Hunt 1 2-2 4, Cord Edeler 1-0-0 2, Rex Cooper 5 1-1 11, Yandel Hernandez 2 0-0 5, Carter Jacobs 2 0-0 4.  Totals 15-of-55 (FGs) 5-of-5 (FTs) 38.

3-POINT GOALS — Longshore 2, Hernandez.  REBOUNDS — Greybull 31 (Hernandez 7). STEALS — Greybull 5 (Longshore 2).  ASSISTS — Greybull 5 (Longshore 2).  TURNOVERS — Greybull 3.

Thermop 15 18 24 11 — 68

Greybull 11 10   9 11 — 41

GREYBULL — Longshore 3 0-2 7, Hunt 2 0-2 6, Anthony Chacon 0 1-2 1, Aaron Corral 1 0-0 2, Rex Cooper 4 1-4 9, Hernandez 5 0-0 10, Jacobs 2 1-1 6.  Totals 17-of-54 (FGs) 3-of-11 (FTs) 41.

3-POINT GOALS — Hunt 2, Longshore, Jacobs.  REBOUNDS — Greybull 33 (Cooper 7).  STEALS — Greybull 6 (Edeler 3).  ASSISTS — Greybull 12 (Longshore 4).  TURNOVERS — Greybull 16.