ROCK SPRINGS – It’s always nice to sleep in your own bed and have the home crowd behind you. The Rock Springs basketball teams took the home floor for the first time this season and took two to open the Flaming Gorge Classic on Thursday.
In a little bit of a switch, the Tigers took the floor first followed by the Lady Tigers. Rock Springs entered play after a good learning experience at the Gillette Tournament last week. The Tigers went 0-3.
Rock Springs opened the Classic against a team just down the road Mountain View. Both teams played even to open the game as Tiger Ryan Brandt got the offense going. At the end of the first it was knotted at 15.
The Tigers and Buffalos traded buckets to start the second. Demetrius Davenport hit two buckets including a three to give Rock Springs a little room, 28-22. Mountain View battled back but the Tigers were able to maintain a five-point lead at the break, 30-25.
Mountain View opened the third and cut the Tiger lead to one, 32-31. Looking to get the offense going, Jared Rodriguez stepped behind the three-point line and found the range. Carter Rosette and Wrylee Padilla followed suit as the Tigers jumped up 10, 45-35. Not letting the Tiger run get them down, Mountain View came back with a run of their own in the final minute of the third to pull within three, 45-42.
Rock Springs picked up the defensive pressure to start the final period. Padilla, Rosette and Austin Pivic converted on the offensive end as the Tigers quickly jumped back up by double figures, 55-44. Rock Springs made it interesting in the final three minutes missing several free throws with time running out but Mountain View could not take advantage. Pivic and Davenport hit from the charity stripe down the stretch to give the Tigers win one of the season, 64-55.
Rock Springs Lady Tigers
The Lady Tigers hit the home floor coming off a good performance in the Gillette Tournament. During the Camel Invitational, the Lady Tiger defense had strong moments. In the first quarter against Rich County, it was the Rock Springs defense which set the tone.
Behind Lexi Newman and Maggie Justinak, the Lady Tigers jumped out to a 6-0 lead. MacKenzie Kroupa knocked down a three and followed it with a two pointer as Rock Springs took a 13-4 lead at the end of the first.
Darian Williams and Justinak kept the Lady Tiger offense rolling to start the second. Rich County was able to get a little offensive push but baskets by Newman and Stevie Hill to end the half had Rock Springs up 13 at the break, 24-11.
After Newman scored to open the second half, Rich County was able to get a 6-0 run to pull back within single digits, 26-17. Williams went back to work offensively and along with buckets by Hill and Kylah McConnel had the Lady Tigers back up by double digits, 32-19 at the end of the third.
Lyndzie Kroupa and Williams started the scoring in the fourth and final quarter. Rich was again able to make a small run at Rock Springs but four points down the stretch by Justinak iced it for the Lady Tigers, 42-30.
Up Next
Both Rock Springs teams have interesting match-ups on the second day of the Flaming Gorge Classic. The Lady Tigers will get things started at Tiger Gymnasium Friday. The ladies of Rock Springs will face Mountain View at 11:20 a.m. When the new rankings came out this week, Mountain View was ranked third in 3A. The ladies of MV lost on Thursday to the fourth-ranked 4A team Cheyenne Central 55-38.
For the Tigers, they will really get a chance to see how they match up with the rest of the 4A conference as they face the second-ranked 4A team Gillette. The Camels opened the Classic with a win over Green River, 99-61. The Tigers hit the floor at 2:40 p.m.
