Friday, March 29, 2024

Sophomore Cougar Trey Stampfel waits to receive the inbound pass.Husky Roman Zugaza goes up for a lay up against the Bridger Scouts on Thursday.  He had four points for the game.Husky Cole Brown shoots the ball against BridgerPark City's Talon Johnstone jumps for a shot against Harlowton on Friday.  Johnstone had 10 points for the game.Columbus sophomore Ricky Preece looks for a shot against Shepherd.Absarokee senior Tyler Planichek takes a shot last Thursday.Cougar Carson West handles the ball last Saturday in Shepherd.

RPR and PC start conference play 3-0, Abs. also victorious

The RPR Renegades had an impressive performance at home last week to secure a win against a very good Plenty Coups team.
The first quarter was slow for the Renegades, and the Warriors took full advantage, putting up a 21-8 first quarter lead. The second quarter began the same way, but with three and a half minutes to go in the first half, the RPR offense finally clicked. The Renegades went on an 18-2 run to tie the game at 31 going into halftime.
RPR did not let the break slow the momentum, and scored 22 and 26 in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, to secure the 79-71 victory.
In the second half of the game, the Renegades shot 65 percent from the field. For the game, RPR made 27 of 38 free throw attempts. The Renegades racked up 35 rebounds compared to Plenty Coups’ 15.
Leading RPR’s offensive charge was senior Trevor Herzog with an outstanding 40 points. He went 16 for 20 from the free throw line. Herzog was followed by senior John Schladweiler and junior Tristan Gieser with 14 points each. Senior Dylan Blodgett led the team with 11 rebounds.
Coach Jerry Thompson said the game was exciting, and while Plenty Coups shot well in the first quarter and a half, the tentative Renegade offense came alive with the help of all five starters.
Saturday’s game in Harlowton was not quite an offensive battle like Friday’s game.
The Renegades struggled offensively in the first half, and by halftime Harlowton was up 19-16. In the third quarter the RPR offense finally got rolling, and the Renegades scored more points than they had the entire first half. After a close fourth quarter, RPR recorded a 46-38 win to put the Renegades at 3-0 in conference play.
Senior Derek Peterson led RPR with 19 points, followed by Gieser with 18.
Harlowton did a good job of double-teaming Herzog, and Thompson explained how that strategy left other players open and Peterson and Gieser took advantage of those opportunities.
Thompson felt RPR did well defensively to hold the Engineers to 38 points.
The Renegades will have a very tough game at home against the Bridger Scouts to end the 2017 portion of the season. The Scouts are undefeated in conference play so far, and they were a preseason favorite to take the district. RPR will have to shoot well and play with intensity to be successful, according to Thompson.

PARK CITY
The Panthers began conference play the right way last week, taking home a couple wins.
On Friday, Park City played their home and conference opener against the Harlowton Engineers. The Panthers took control of the game early, and a 17-point second quarter put Park City up 24-5 at halftime. The second half was owned by the Panthers as well, and Park City easily won the game 47-18.
Senior Rylan Gauthier led the team with 20 points. Junior Austin Popp and senior Talon Johnstone each contributed 10 points.
“We wanted to come out fast and play some physical, intense defense against the Engineers,” explained Coach Ben Southworth. “We did just that.”
On Saturday, Park City traveled to Roberts to face the Rockets. Once again, the Panthers dominated the game from the start, putting up 18 points in the first quarter and 12 in the second for a 30-15 halftime lead. The momentum continued through the second half, and Park City rolled to a 56-30 win.
Johnstone had another big game with 19 points. Gauthier put up 16, and junior Connor McNeil contributed 11 points. The team had 16 steals, led by Gauthier with seven.
Southworth felt the team successfully executed the goal of maintaining intensity against the Rockets and not showing any signs of slumping after the previous night’s victory.
On Tuesday, Park City beat Broadview-Lavina at home, 68-46. Check back next week for the full story.
The Panthers’ last game before winter break comes on Thursday in Absarokee. Park City is looking to extend their conference record to 4-0 against county rivals.
Southworth feels the Absarokee game will be tough, and the team is looking forward to the challenge. The Panthers are always trying to improve and get better. Southworth explained it this way: “Hard work pays off and we are still trying to be the hardest working team.”

ABSAROKEE
The Huskies came out of last weekend with a win and a loss in conference play to bring the team’s conference record to 1-1.
On Thursday, Absarokee faced the very tough Bridger Scouts. The Huskies kept with the quick Bridger team throughout the first quarter to enter the second down three. An 18-4 second quarter lengthened the Scouts’ lead to 17 at halftime.
Absarokee came out of the break with intensity, but the Bridger lead was too much to overcome. The Scouts sealed the 63-34 win with a strong fourth quarter.
Sophomore Zacc Degele led the team with eight points, three assists, and three steals. Seniors Joaquin Pilcher, Tyler Planichek, and Jonas Williams each put up five points. Pilcher also racked up eight rebounds and two steals. Senior Roman Zugaza led the Huskies with nine rebounds.
Coach Gregg Feddes thought the team did a good job of keeping with the Scouts initially, but after “the turnover bug bit” the Huskies, even a good third quarter was not enough.
“We were disappointed in the loss, but we did do some things that we could build on and we tried to focus on that,” Feddes explained.
Saturday’s game was a barn-burner in Broadview. After a tight first quarter, Absarokee outscored Broadview-Lavina 26-14 to take a 45-31 halftime lead. The Pirates came out of half strong, and outscored Absarokee 24-12, closing the gap to a two-point Husky lead.
The final quarter was close, and with about 30 seconds left in the game, Pilcher extended the Absarokee lead to 73-70 by making two free throws. A Pirate three-pointer then tied the game, and after being fouled, Zugaza made his second free throw to put the Huskies up 74-73. Planichek stole the ball with seven seconds left in the game to seal the victory.
Pilcher led the game with an impressive 30 points He went 7-12 at the free throw line and made three three-point shots. He also tied for the most rebounds with 14.
Zugaza had a great night, putting up 16 points, five assists, and a team-high three steals. He also had 14 rebounds – eight offensive and six defensive. As a team, the Huskies grabbed 53 rebounds throughout the game compared to the Pirates’ 28 rebounds.
“I was proud of the toughness and composure we showed as the comeback was happening,” said Feddes. “It would have been easy to let it slip away because they had taken all of the momentum and the gym was rocking, but we showed some resiliency.”
He felt the Pirates had a strong second half, but the Huskies were able to stay strong and execute when needed.
This Thursday, Absarokee will face Park City at home. On Friday, they will finish 2017 with a game at Harlowton.

COLUMBUS
The Cougars played well last Saturday, coming very close to winning their first game of the season at Shepherd.
The game was close throughout, and at halftime Columbus was down four points. In the second half the Cougars scored 22 points, but the Mustangs did as well, so the four-point lead remained for a final score of 47-43.
Senior Brandon Horton led Columbus with 14 points. Also contributing were senior Kenneth Smith and junior Carson West, with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Assistant Coach Cory Hansen said the team has greatly improved since week one. The Shepherd game showed an “inspired defense” and a greater desire to compete from the Cougars.
He mentioned that the Columbus team is young, and that means learning a new system and how to work to each other’s strengths. The team continues to “strive for improvement” and gain experience throughout the season.
“We hope to continue on improving our turnover ratio and compete in each and every game the rest of the way,” Hansen said.
On Tuesday evening, the Cougars again had a close game, losing 70-67 to Joliet. A full recap of the game will be in next’s week’s edition.
Columbus will not play again until Thursday, Jan. 4, when the Roundup Panthers come to town.

BOX SCORES

Reed Point-Rapelje 79, Plenty Coups 71

Plenty Coups 21 10 19 21 — 71
RPR 8 23 22 26 — 79

Plenty Coups: Clarence Stewart 3. Julian Glenn 8, Blake DeCrane 31, Marlan Goes Ahead 2, Nevin Goes Ahead 3, Miles Brien 12, Brendan Falls Down 12.

RPR: Trevor Herzog 40, John Schladweiler 14, Tristan Gieser 14, Derek Peterson 8, Dylan Blodgett 3.
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Reed Point-Rapelje 46, Harlowton 38

RPR 6 10 19 11 — 46
Harlowton 10 9 8 11 — 38

Reed Point-Rapelje: Derek Peterson 19, Tristan Gieser 18, Trevor Herzog 8, Dylan Blodgett 2, John Schladweiler 1.

Harlowton: Kavin Schwers 10, CJ McLees 8, Tyler Gorecki 4, James Lane 11, Wyatt Woodard 2, Johnny Musse 3.
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Park City 47, Harlowton 18

Harlowton 1 4 7 6 -- 18
Park City 7 17 12 11 -- 47

Harlowton: Schwers 4, Lawson 4, Gorecki 2, Lane 5, Woodord 2, Mysse 1.

Park City: Rylan Gauthier 20, Austin Popp 10, Talon Johnstone 10, Connor McNeil 4, Garrett McMillen 2, Caleb VanDoren 1.
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Park City 56, Roberts 30

Park City 18 12 16 10 — 56
Roberts 8 7 2 13 — 30

Park City: Talon Johnstone 19, Rylan Gauthier 16, Connor McNeil 11, Austin Popp 6, Austin Dennis 2.

Roberts: Alex Kossel 11, Riley Gebhardt 6, Jace Weimer 6, Kauner Pratt 3, Ryan Devries 1, Lucious Payovich 2, Presten Enrlich 1.
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Bridger 63, Absarokee 34

Bridger 14 18 12 19 — 63
Absarokee 11 4 14 5 — 34

Bridger: Colter Zentner 12, Kolten Pospisil 23, Russell Zentner 2, Colby Zentner 6, Jake Mitzel 6, Carson Roberts 14.

Absarokee: Zacc Degele 8, Cole Brown 5, Joaquin Pilcher 5, Jonas Williams 5, Roman Zugaza 4, Ashton Campbell 2, Tyler Planichek 2, Peyton Langley 2, Jake Branger 1.
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Absarokee 74, Broadview-Lavina 73

Absarokee 19 26 12 17 — 74
Broadview-Lavina 17 14 24 18 — 73

Absarokee: Joaquin Pilcher 30, Roman Zugaza 16, Cole Brown 7, Tyler Planichek 6, Zacc Degele 5, Ashton Campbell 4, Jake Branger 3, Peyton Langley 2, Jonas Williams 1.

Broadview-Lavina: Andrew Glennie 14, Cameron Hickson 22, Aidan Payne 1, Morgan Harmon 4, Rod Schaff 22, Rhyan Miller 5, Lane Fiske 3, Sam Tyrrel 2.
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Shepherd 47, Columbus 43

Columbus 7 14 10 12 — 43
Shepherd 10 15 12 10 — 47

Columbus: Brandon Horton 14, Kenneth Smith 12, Carson West 11, Trey Stampfel 1.

Shepherd: NA.