IR Record

Thermopolis
Thermopolis Bobcats run into trouble over two days
Independent by Mark Dykes
Last week, the Thermopolis High School
boys basketball team dropped two games, tak-
ing on Worland at home Thursday and playing
at Buffalo Friday.
Things started rough for the boys on their
home court, with a 72-39 loss to Worland. Coach
Kevin Gerber noted Thursday was Senior Night,
and had mentioned previously some might
think of it as a distraction but he believes it is
a good one to have. His philosophy is when the
seniors have spent the time being on the team
and given a lot of their time to a high school
career, they deserve to be on the court rst.
Among the starters was Logan Bartholomew,
who after last weeks games, voiced he would
give up his spot. Gerber spoke to the senior and
told him he earned that starting spot. Joining
stop to it and the rst quarter had the Bob-
cats trailing by only two, 15-13. Gerber not-
ed this was the result of a 13-7 run against
Worland during which no one player scored
all the points. It was everybody contribut-
ing, Gerber said.
Going into the second quarter, Gerber
said they ran into some foul trouble. While
it wound up being a 17-15 quarter, Roling
turned on the steam, scoring 11 of his 18
points. Gerber said his teammates helped
him get to the basket, setting up screens and
making it difcult for Buffalo to get to him.
The three big starters DeVries, Schwal-
be and Bartholomew wound up with their
third fouls for the game in the second as well.
Thats where Trey [Davis] and Brett [Nico-
demus], they both stepped up in a really big

SPORTS & ACTIVITIES

Bartholomew were Trey Davis, Jake Maksin,
Will DeVries and Brett Nicodemus.
Gerber said it was great to see the boys come
out with their parents, and he appreciates
spending some time with them on the court
before the game.
As to actual play, Gerber noted the struggle
for the team to get going, as Worland put up 10
before the Bobcats got on the board, and Ther-
mopolis was outscored 21-8 in the rst quarter.
Gerber said he didnt feel the energy dur-
ing the game, himself included. There was
something just a little off, he said. Whether
it was the game or outside circumstances. Im
not sure. It just was kind of a game where we
were a little off.
With only 12 points in the rst half compared
to Worlands 34, Gerber said it was a tough
time for sure. But, the boys came back in the
third and matched Worland at 16. That was
great to see, Gerber said. However, Worland
red back again in the fourth, outscoring 22-11.
Losing 72-39 was not great, Gerber said,
but noted Worlands Coach Abel was very, and
sincerely, upbeat with how the Bobcats played
and the great things he saw from them. Gerber
noted other people are seeing what the boys are
capable of, and he is very proud.
Following the game, Gerber encouraged
the boys to keep a short memory of it, and he
knows they did, instead looking ahead to Fri-
days game at Buffalo.
Scoring against Worland were: DeVries
9; Maksin 8; Davis 6; Noah Schwalbe
6; Hudson Roling 4, Bartholomew 4; and
Nicodemus 2.
As for that Friday game, a 70-51 loss for the
Bobcats, Gerber said Buffalo had an 8-0 run
on them and he saw the perseverance of the
boys. While it couldve turned out similar to the
photo by Cindy Glasson Worland game, Gerber said they put a quick
way, Gerber said, coming off the bench and
getting in some big minutes for us. He also
had Jaxon Davis and Cade Zupan come in
as well, though they were only available for
two quarters.
At halftime, Gerber said they discussed
playing smart with so many fouls. However,
36 seconds into the third Bartholomew and
Schwalbe picked up their fourth, and not long
after DeVries picked up his. Thats a hard
call to make at that point, Gerber said. On
one side, he could take them out and not have
them play for a while. On the other, he could
risk them fouling out the rest of the game.
Working with a smaller lineup of Maksin,
Trey Davis, Jaxon Davis, Roling and Nico-
demus, a rotation that had not seen time on
the court, Gerber said they did really well.
Thermopolis was outscored 24-11 in the
third, but they came out in the fourth and
played really well, though Bartholomew and
DeVries fouled out. Schwalbe remained on
the court, going four for ve on free throws
and another bucket.
Aside from the score, Gerber said Trey
Davis, Nicodemus, Zupan and Jaxon Davis photo by Mark Dykes
all saw some good oor time which can re-
ally pay off with two season games left and Up and over
going into regionals. Jake Maksin puts a shot over a Worland
Had the team been at full strength, Ger- defender at Thursday night's home game.
ber said, it wouldve been a closer game. But,
he noted, it was a good lesson for the boys to being told to step up his game and did a good
to learn with regard to getting into foul trou- job boxing out and rebounding. Looking at his
ble. He was excited to see how different play- score, Gerber said Schwalbe made about one
ers stepped up. point for every minute of play he had.
In particular, the coach pointed out Rolings Scoring against Buffalo were: Roling 18;
leadership skills, getting not only 18 points but Schwalbe 13; Trey Davis 6; Maksin 6;
seven boards and playing as long as he could DeVries 4; Jaxon Davis 2; and Nicode-
after getting injured and leading the rest of mus 2.
the players. The Bobcats will next play at Rawlins Fri-
Schwalbe, Gerber said, also responded well day, beginning at 7 p.m.

Determination
Jeffrey VanAntwerp keeps an eye on his Glenrock
opponent Friday night.

Wrestlers head
to regionals by Rex Clothier
With duals against both Lovell and highly rated Glen-
rock Thursday and Friday, the Bobcats faced a sizable
challenge; especially with the effect of the local u-bug
and injury. It was not unexpected that the Bobcats would
not be at their best but there were bright spots in both
duals though the Cats were on the short end of 39-30
and 59-21 scores.
Against Lovell, Michael Harvey (170 lbs.) started the
Bobcats off with a narrow one point victory, 8-7, while
giving up three takedowns. Harvey countered with two
reversals and a near fall. Both wrestlers scored an es-
cape for the nal score.
Austin Ireland (106 lbs.) scored on three takedowns to
extend his match to overtime where he promptly scored
his fourth for the victory, 8-6. photo by Cindy Glasson
Jon Hagen (120 lbs.) tied the team score at that point
with a fall at 4:47, but the Bobcats were unable to main- Mine!
tain the momentum losing the next four matches (15
Lady Bobcat Jules Ward is determined to keep the ball away from rival Lady Warriors during Thursday night's game against
team points) for a 39-24 total.
Worland. The girls played their last home game of the season, and for many, their high school careers, on their home court.
Cullen Becher (160 lbs.) raised the Bobcat total with
a quick dispatching of his Lovell opponent in a rst pe-

Lady Cats drop two over weekend

riod pin at :53.
Others wrestling in Lovell were Chase White, Hunter
Mounts, Jon Harvey, Riley Shaffer, and Tyson Tobar.
Glenrock took no chances against the young Bobcats.
They brought their A team and their A game. Thermop-
olis showed only three victories and one forfeit for their
Senior Night effort.
Jon Hagen (120 lbs.) won for the Bobcats in impres-
sive fashion with a :52 pin after a quick takedown.
Cullen Bechers match was against a wrestler who
had bested him by one point a week earlier at the Ron
Thon. Becher (160 lbs.) left no doubt in anyones mind
as to whether that result was going to be repeated as
he scored the initial takedown, and continued to show
dominance in a 7-3 victory.
Appropriately enough in the nights nale, the Bob-
cats lone senior, Michael Harvey (170 lbs.), scored the
rst takedown, and then spent little time in turning his
Herder opponent to his back for the pin at the beginning
of the second period (2:14).
Other Bobcats wrestling Friday were Blake Williams,
Chase White, Jeffery VanAntwerp, Jon Harvey, Riley
Shaffer and Tyson Tobar.
Coach CJ Scholl noted that the lineup at Lovell was
missing a couple of stalwarts, but the real problem for
some seemed to be that they were not feeling well and
lacked the energy needed to be competitive.
Glenrock will be competitive for the state champi-
onship if they get a little help from some of the other
teams like Cokeville in dealing with Moorcroft, so we
were somewhat overwhelmed given the status of some of
our wrestlers. I think, given some time to get healthy,
well be competitive in several weights. We should have
seven to nine state qualiers coming out of the regional
tournament, said Scholl
The Bobcats will journey to Wheatland this weekend
for the regional tournament where eight wrestlers in
each weight class will qualify for the state tournament
in Casper the following week.
by Cindy Glasson
Last Thursday night marked Senior Night
for the Bobcat girls basketball team, an eve-
ning where the girls play on their home court
for the last time.
Unfortunately, the evening didnt go well
for the Lady Cats, dropping the game to Wor-
land, 59-32.
They got off to a very rough start during
the game with the high emotions making it
very difcult for them, coach Cory Sova said.
Lady Cats putting numbers up on the board
included Haley McDermott with 14, Ashlynn
Weber with six, Korey Smith, ve, Sesi Jen-
sen, three, Liz Rhodes with two and McKenna
Bomengen with two points.
McDermott had three assists to go with her
14 points and Makayla George and Weber each
had seven rebounds for the night.
Lizzy Lonk added two assists and Sesi Jen-
sen, two steals.
Again, we struggled with getting shots to
fall, Sova said. We missed at least nine shots
right near the rim that we simply have to make
to be competitive. We ran our offense ne, but
Worlands size bothered us on other shots.
Sova said the girls struggled from the pe-
rimeter too, even though they had some good
looks from the area.
They didnt play that badly, but Worland did
a good job of getting the ball to their big girls,
something the team just couldnt overcome.
I told the girls that when emotions are high,
the importance of the evening is obvious. As
hard as it is to play a Senior Night game, it is
absolutely a celebration, Sova said. Their years
of hard work and commitment was on display
one nal time on the Bobcat court.
I told them that they had nothing to be
ashamed of as they played hard, smart and
together.
These girls really appreciated all the family,
student and staff support that they received.
They were not pleased with how they played
overall against Worland, but rebounded quickly,
playing one of their best games the next eve-
ning at Buffalo.
At Buffalo on Saturday night, Sova said Smith
was on re shooting the ball in the rst half.
She carried us, he said. In a good perfor-
mance, she added six rebounds and two steals.
McDermott also had six rebounds and three
assists to go with her nine points, and Jules
Ward did a great job blocking out Buffalos big
girls with seven rebounds. She also added three
assists and two steals to her stats.
Weber hit some big shots during the game
and had three rebounds, too.
Sova said Lonk shot the ball extremely
well, hitting a couple of threes with another
one having her foot on the three-point line. She
also chalked up two assists.
George had an inside presence against the
Lady Buffs, adding a nice 15-foot jumper, which
Sova said was great to see since shed been ght-
ing her shooting lately.
She has excellent rotation on the ball and
does well when she gets the correct arc on her
shot, he said.
Bomengen fought hard for four rebounds,
and she and Sesi Jensen gave some good sup-
port off the bench.
I was really happy for the girls, Sova said.
They played with poise and condence.
Going into a hostile environment and only
having nine total turnovers was outstanding.
It would have been nice to get to the free-throw
line a few more times, but we were able to get
there 10 times, compared to Buffalos 29, and
they outscored us 16 to six.
Another negative for the game was Buffalo
getting 15 offensive rebounds, Sova said. We
cant afford any mistakes in this area to win
big games.
We will continue to work on this as well as
game shooting situations. We shot the ball OK
from the three-point line, but only converted on
5/23 two-point attempts.
The Lady Cats have just one game on the
schedule this week, an away game against the
Rawlins Lady Outlaws. Rawlins came out on
top 45-40 a copule of weeks ago and Sova said
the girls are going to demonstrate utmost fo-
cus throughout the week in preparation for
the rematch.
They are looking for momentum as region-
als are just a couple of weeks away, he said.
If they can build on their Buffalo performance,
that would be awesome.
Junior varsity will tip of at 4 p.m. in Rawlins
with varsity starting at 5:30 p.m. There will be
no freshman game in Rawlins.