Wolves cruise to a 61-21 first game

On Friday, the Moorcroft Wolves basketball team opened their season in the Burns Winter Classic against the Lingle-Ft. Laramie Doggers. The boys had two long weeks of practice and were excited to get their season started.

The Wolves jumped out to an early 15-4 first quarter lead and never looked back. I thought we pressured and defended well all game long.

We have a deep bench and a senior lead team that was tough for the Doggers to handle. The team cruised to a 61-21 win. It was a good first game for the Wolves.

We turned around and played our next game later that evening against the 2A 5th ranked team in the state, the Pine Bluffs Hornets. The boys struggled to handle the full court pressure defense of the Hornets in the first half and after the first quarter, the Wolves trailed 14-9.

In the second quarter, the Hornets came out and turned up the pressure and the Wolves were unable to handle it. At halftime the Wolves trailed 32-13.

We talked at halftime about taking care of the basketball and valuing every possession. We came out in the third quarter and executed much better.

The Wolves would outscore the Hornets 13-8 in the third. The boys fought their way back into the game and brought it within five points with three minutes to go in the fourth.

Some late turnovers sealed the game for the Hornets as they would prevail 57-46. I thought the boys showed great fight to battle back after struggling in the second quarter. We just kept battling and were much better on the defensive end in the second half.

On Saturday, the Wolves traveled to Torrington to battle the 3A Trailblazers. The boys were nervous going into the game because the Trailblazers have a big, athletic team.

After the game started, the pack settled into the game very nicely. At the end of the first quarter, the Wolves lead 13-11.

We knew we were going to have to do all the little things right to compete with a talented Trailblazers team. We executed well offensively and played great team defense in the first half.

The Wolves lead 30-23 going into halftime. The third quarter was back and forth and both teams played great defense.

The Trailblazers would outscore the Wolves 11-8 in the third to make it a four-point game going into the fourth quarter. The Wolves really struggled offensively in the fourth quarter.

I think three games in a 24-hour period really took its toll on us. We couldn’t get any shots to fall in the fourth quarter.

We had two nice looks at open three pointers in the final seconds of the game, but could not get either to go down. The Trailblazers prevail 40-38.

The Wolves junior varsity team opened their season against the Lingle-Ft Laramie Doggers in Pine Bluffs. I thought the boys played well for their first game of the season.

We are young with five freshmen getting a lot of playing time. The team kept the game close and worked well together. The Hornets would prevail in the end by 9.

In the second game, the JV Wolves took on Trailblazers JV squad and struggled to handle the full court pressure from the Trailblazers. The Trailblazers pulled away and came out on top of the Wolves.

Overall, I thought it was a good weekend for both our teams. We learned a lot about who we want to be as a team and did some really good things defensively. We will continue to work hard and improve in all areas of the game.

Coach Petersen and I were very pleased with the effort the boys gave all weekend. This group is a hardworking bunch and will continue to improve.

The Wolves will be back in action on Thursday night against the Glenrock Herders at 7 p.m. If you are unable to secure a ticket due to the 100 max spectator rule, please join in and watch at nfhs.network.com.