Wolves host Powder River Tournament

On Friday morning, the Moorcroft Wolves Boys Varsity Basketball team was back in action as they played host to the Kaycee Buckaroos in the opening game of the Powder River tournament. The Wolves jumped out to a 13-8 lead after the first quarter.

At halftime, the Wolves led, 27-23. In the third quarter, the team came out and extended their lead to 44-33.

The boys went on to win, 58-48. I thought we played fairly well after coming off the long holiday break; we executed offensively and played good defense.

In the second game, later that evening, Moorcroft hosted the Wright Panthers. Wright is very athletic and has a good basketball team this year so we knew going in we were going to have to play well to give them a game.

After the first quarter, the Panthers led, 9-6. I thought we came out and handled their press and rebounded fairly well.

In the second quarter, the Panthers outscored us, 21-9. We turned the ball over too much and that led to some easy baskets for them. Anytime we give up 21 points in a quarter, we know our execution is not there.

The Panthers led 30-15 going into half. We talked at halftime about taking care of the ball and executing offensively. They have some big athletic kids and we knew we had to take care of the rebounds as well.

After the third quarter, the Panthers took a 45-26 lead. We put together our best quarter all year offensively in the fourth.

We put up 25 points and brought the game back within eight at one point. In the end, the Wolves came up short, 51-63. I was proud of the kids as they fought the whole game and never gave up.

On Saturday, the Wolves hosted Campbell County’s junior varsity squad. CC boys were super athletic and gave us a lot of problems with their pressure defense. CC boys would go on to win this game, 65-24.

Later that afternoon, we took on the Arvada Claremont squad. We came out aggressively and took an 18-0 lead into the second quarter. At halftime, we led 34-6 and went on to win the game, 50-36.

A lot of kids had playing time and valuable experience. Overall, I was pleased with how we played in the tournament, we are young and inexperienced and improving every day. These boys work hard and have the desire to get better.

The Wolves will be back in action Thursday night in Newell, SD as we take on Faith in the first round of the West River Tournament. We will play again in Newell Friday evening and play in the civic center in Rapid City on Saturday.