Warriors treating weekend 'like regional tournament'
No. 1 Worland plays 3 games in as many days, starting with Powell
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By Sisco Molina
Sports Editor
WORLAND – With the regional tournament exactly a month away, the top-ranked Warriors are going to get a pretty good feel for the postseason format as they play three games in three days this weekend, starting with Powell this evening at 7 p.m.
“It’s on our chalkboard in the locker room. It’s up there that this is pre-regionals, basically,” Worland boys basketball coach Aaron Abel said on Wednesday. “If you’re a high seed – which hopefully we’ll be – you’ll start out with a weaker opponent and that’s what we have in Powell right now. They have no 3A wins and they’re struggling a little bit.
“It’s a game that hopefully you can get that first win out of the way and you go into that regional semifinal the next night and that’s how we’re looking at it. Buffalo is a must-win game.”
Buffalo, of course, is the team the Warriors will be hosting on Friday before finishing up the weekend with a home tilt against Cody on Saturday. It’s also the team the Warriors have prepared the most for in practice.
The Bison (10-3, 1-1 3A Northeast) torched the Warriors earlier this season 69-51 on Jan. 9 – a loss Abel took the blame for.
That day Buffalo had its best 3-point shooting game of the season thus far, starting the game 9 of 13 from deep in the first 10 minutes before finishing 11 of 24.
It caught Abel and the Warriors off guard once, but the second time around they’ll be ready.
Before that, though, they’ll face a Powell team that has had a rough go of it this year.
Worland has had little trouble with the Panthers (1-12, 0-1 3A Northwest) in the two meetings prior to the one today, dispatching the Panthers 66-39 at a tournament in Lovell on Jan. 8 before routing them again at home 73-46 on Jan. 15.
“To be honest, we haven’t talked about Powell at all other than to compare them to what we’re going to play against Buffalo,” Abel said. “As long we give the effort we need to, I think we’ll be fine. We’re going to treat it as preparation for the next night since we don’t have that extra practice.
“As long as we’re ready with our effort from the tap, I’ll be OK with whatever else happens.”
Injury update
Senior point guard Chandler Ramos exited Worland’s 72-64 overtime win against Rawlins early in the first quarter, afterwards saying, “It just didn’t feel right,” in reference to his right knee which he sports a brace on. Ramos then missed Saturday’s 60-43 win in Glenrock the next day.
Earlier in the week, his status was uncertain. But, all signs point to Ramos starting in today’s game against Powell.
He was running with the starting five in practice on Wednesday as they prepared for the weekend slate.
